Committee to be formed to look into concerns on same-sex marriage: Centre tells SC

• Centre proposes committee to address issues faced by same-sex couples
• Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which is hearing a number of pleas seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages, that the government was positive about the review proposal administrative steps in this regard
• Supreme Court had earlier observed govt's duty to recognize social implications of cohabitation rights

The Center on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that a committee headed by a cabinet secretary would be set up to examine administrative steps to address some of the problems faced by same-sex couples without dealing with the issue of legalizing their marriage.

Appearing at the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, which is hearing a number of pleas seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages, that the government was positive about the review proposal administrative steps in this regard.

Before the tribunal, which also included Justices SK Kaul, SR Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha, he said it would require coordination between more than one ministry. On the seventh day of the hearing, Mehta said that the petitioners can file their submissions on the issue of examining what administrative steps can be taken in this regard.

While hearing the case on April 27, the court raised the question after observing that the Centre's acceptance of the right to cohabitation of same-sex partners as a fundamental right places a "corresponding duty" on it to recognize its social implications.