“IN WITH THE NEW” – Comprehending the Legality of Same-Sex Marriages in India

Law is a discipline that defines policies and guidelines for human behavior in a specific scenario or set of circumstances and tends to make those standards enforceable via the application of state sanctions. It is thought that perhaps the government must respect and protect the dignity of its citizens; so, Part III of the Indian Constitution grants citizens Fundamental Rights that safeguard them from any unlawful activity and provide them with officially recognized liberties. Queer/LGBTQ people in India are generally familiar with ethical and social inequalities. Same-sex matrimony is a new level of social development in Indian society that deserves global attention. Homosexuality has been a socially accepted idea since the Vedic time, until Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code was adopted, which exacerbated the situation worse for the LGBTQ population, resulting in harassment of the entire society. Section 377 resulted in the alienation of the community as a whole as a result of majoritarian policies, which resulted in the erosion of basic human rights. The Supreme Court's decision in Navtej Singh Johar v. Union of India in 2018 eventually gave homosexuals the right to privacy and dignity. Same-sex couples faced numerous issues because the judgment was simply a mid-ticket to the destination, allowing individuals to live together and yet never providing acknowledgment of their relationship. This paper attempts to understand, analyze and focus on the societal and legal status of same-sex marriages across India.