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In a ruling that disappointed LGBTQ+ rights campaigners, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court unanimously rejected their prayer to grant legal recognition to same-sex marriage and left it to Parliament to change the law for such a union.
Citing “institutional limitations”, a five-judge bench, comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha, in four separate judgments, declined to strike down or tweak provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA), saying there is “no unqualified right” to marriage, and a same-sex couple cannot claim it as a fundamental right under the Constitution.
The bench recognised equal rights for queer people and their protection, and called for sensitisation of the public to ensure they are not discriminated against.
All the judges agreed on the point of tasking the committee, to be constituted under the Cabinet Secretary as promised by the Centre, for the purpose of defining and elucidating the scope of the entitlements of queer couples.
PM spells out ISRO goals: Space station by 2035 Indians on Moon by 2040 (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Two months after the successful Moon landing and launch of a mission to study the Sun, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced two new targets for space agency ISRO: setting up an Indian space station by 2035 and taking the first Indian to Moon by 2040.
The Prime Minister also called on the scientists to work towards a Venus Orbiter Mission and a Mars Lander Mission.
The directions came at a high-level meeting chaired by Modi to assess the progress of Gaganyaan Mission, India’s human space flight programme under which the first test vehicle is slated to fly on October 21.
The meeting had also been called to outline the future of India’s space exploration initiatives, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
The Department of Space presented a comprehensive overview of Gaganyaan Mission, including various technologies developed so far such as human-rated launch vehicles and system qualification.
It was noted that around 20 major tests, including 3 uncrewed missions of the Human Rated Launch Vehicle, are planned.
First demonstration flight of the Crew Escape System Test Vehicle is scheduled on October 21. The meeting evaluated the mission’s readiness, affirming its launch in 2025.
Express Network
Waheeda Rehman conferred with Dadasaheb Phalke Award (Page no. 9)
(Miscellaneous)
Veteran Bollywood diva, Waheeda Rehman was conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award . She received the honour from the President of India, Droupadi Murmu. Rehman was told about being honoured with the prestigious award by the Information and Broadcasting Minister, Anurag Thakur, in September this year and it took her a few moments to register what she heard from him.
In a recent interview with Doordarshan National, the Guide actor shared she never ‘dreamt’ of winning the prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, so it came to her as a surprise when Thakur informed her about her win.
She said, “I had never thought about receiving the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. I never dreamt about it. I have received an award after a very long time. I thought all the awards that I had to receive I had already received. I was honoured with Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan.”
The veteran star was even more apprehensive about winning the award now as she has not done any film in the past decade
India, Europe& Middle East economic corridor will create jobs: Modi (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor will reduce business costs, increase logistical efficiency and create a large number of jobs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.
Recently under India’s initiative, a step has been taken that has the potential to revolutionise the global maritime industry in the 21st century.
During the G20 summit, a historic consensus happened for the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor. Several years ago, silk route had sped up global trade.
This route became the foundation for the development of many countries. This historic corridor too will change the face of regional and global trade,” the PM said as he virtually addressed the third edition of Global Maritime India Summit.
The construction of next generation mega ports and international container transshipment ports, island development, inland waterways, expansion of multimodal hubs, would be taken up under this project.
This corridor will reduce business cost, increase logistical efficiency, reduce impact on environment and help in creation of huge number of jobs. For the investors this is a big opportunity to align with India and become part of this initiative.
Editorial
Court stops short (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
In its latest judgment, the Supreme Court of India has taken some steps to protect same sex unions from discrimination, and granted those unions some legal rights.
But in the final analysis, the Court limited itself to providing a mere modus vivendi: Protecting a few rights, but stopping well short of granting full recognition to same sex marriage.
The Chief Justice was not aligned with at least three of his colleagues, but what is odd about his judgment is that it was not allied with its own logic.
This judgment will only prolong the long and arduous struggle to create the conditions where same sex couples could live a life without fear, in the sweet elixir of freedom, and the imprimatur of equal recognition.
Ideas Page
The day after a disquiet (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Supreme Court Chief Justice and four of his colleagues had convened to pronounce the judgment in the batch of cases concerning what is now popularly known as “same sex marriage”.
Over several weeks, lawyers had traded punches on the scope of marriage laws in India, and of whether they could include in their compass relationships among members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Stemming from this were questions of other civil rights made available through the recognition of the institution of marriage — those of inheritance, adoption and property rights, as well as more run-of-the mill matters that many of us take for granted — nominees for insurance, bank accounts, medical claims, etc.
The central questions framed by the Court included: (a) whether there is a fundamental right to marriage; (b) whether the words in the Special Marriage Act could be given a gender-neutral meaning; (c) whether a civil union could be recognised under Indian law, and (d) whether an obligation could be placed on the State to recognise the relationship (and hence the rights) by law.
Explained
Two views on four key issues (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud on Tuesday refused to grant legal status to same-sex marriages.
While two judges — the CJI and Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul — recognised that queer couples can form “civil unions”, they were in the minority. The majority of three judges said that the issue lay exclusively in the domain of the legislature.
Here’s what the judges said on four key questions.
The petitioners had argued that there exists a fundamental right to marry a person of one’s own choice under the Constitution, and that the court must address the denial of that right.
If the court recognised this as a fundamental right (like it did in the case of privacy in the 2017 Aadhaar ruling), then it would cast an obligation on the state to protect this right.
CJI Chandrachud did not agree with the petitioners’ argument that marriage is an inherent right that the state only regulates.
The minority view stated that marriage may not have attained the social and legal significance it currently has, if the state had not regulated it through law.
Thus, while marriage is not fundamental in itself, it may have attained significance because of the benefits which are realised through regulation.
World
Japan reaches out to Iran: Talk to Hamas, dial down tensions (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa asked his Iranian counterpart to talk to the militant Palestinian group Hamas to try to ease tension in the conflict with Israel.
Israel has vowed to annihilate the Iran-backed Hamas that rules Gaza after fighters burst into Israel on October 7, killing 1,300 people, mainly civilians, in the deadliest day in the country's 75-year-old history.
Kamikawa held a phone call with Hossein Abdollahian as Israel prepares to escalate an offensive against Hamas that has triggered a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and raised fears of a broader conflict with Iran.
Kamikawa and Abdollahian agreed to cooperate to improve humanitarian access to Gaza, a foreign ministry statement said.
Economy
Laptop imports: US Korea raise concerns on Indian restrictions (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The US, China, Korea and Chinese Taipei have raised concerns on India's decision to impose import restrictions on laptops, and computers, in a meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The concern was flagged in the meeting of WTO's Committee on Market Access. It was chaired by Renata Crisaldo of Paraguay on October 16, in Geneva.
The US has stated that the decision will have an impact on trade of these products, including US exports to India, once they are implemented. America has also said that the decision is creating uncertainty for exporters and downstream users.
India imposed import restrictions on a host of IT hardware products as laptops, personal computers (including tablet computers), micro computers, large or mainframe computers, and certain data processing machines with a view to boost domestic manufacturing and cut imports from countries like China.