SC refuses to tweak Special Marriage Act to legalise same-sex marriage

The Supreme Court refused to tweak the Special Marriage Act to legalise same-sex marriage on Tuesday. The court also refused to strike down Section 4 of the law to allow a non-heterosexual couple to marry under the law.
   
A five-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud agreed with the Centre’s view that tinkering with the law could have a cascading effect on other laws. The other members of the bench were justices S.K. Kaul, Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and P.S. Narasimha. 
 
The bench was unanimous in its ruling on not modifying or reading into the Act to allow same-sex marriages in the country.
 
The court advised the central government to set-up a high-powered committee headed by the cabinet secretary to address the concerns of same-sex couples, including ration cards, pension, gratuity and succession.