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The Delhi High Court on Monday sent to the Supreme Court a batch of petitions seeking to recognise same-sex marriages under various laws. A bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad passed the order after it was informed by the counsel appearing in the matter that the Supreme Court has transferred to itself all petitions pending in various high courts involving the same issue. In light of the apex court's January 6 order, the high court bench directed its registry to transfer the case files immediately to the Supreme Court. The high court has been hearing a batch of petitions filed by several same-sex couples seeking a declaration to recognise their marriages under the Special Marriage Act, the Hindu Marriage Act, and the Foreign Marriage Act. Eight petitions have been filed in the high court on the issue. The top court's five-judge Constitution bench, in a path-breaking unanimous judgement delivered on September 6, 2018, had held that consensual
A number of well-known LGBT personalities filed a petition before the Supreme Court this week in support of the curative petition against Section 377, which criminalises consensual homosexual acts between adults. In February, the SC had referred the matter to a five-judge bench, and on Wednesday, it sent the latest petition to the Chief Justice of India to decide whether a Constitution Bench should hear the appeal.The petition was filed by five persons: Bharatnatyam dancer Navtej Singh Johar, journalist Sunil Mehra, restaurateur Ritu Dalmia, businesswoman Ayesha Kapur, and Aman Nath, the founder of the Neemrana chain of hotels. The original petition against Section 377 was filed in Delhi High Court by Naz Foundation, an NGO dedicated to LGBT rights, making this week's petition the first instance of LGBT persons themselves approaching the court with a plea that invokes their personal stories.Coincidentally, this week was also when pictures from last Saturday's Gurgaon Pride flooded my