Advocate Karuna Nundy had appeared for Sengupta and Stephens, the couple got married in New York and their case concerned with the Citizenship Act 1955, Foreign Marriage Act 1969 and Special Marriage Act of 1954.
The advocate said that the section 7A(1)(d) of the Citizenship Act of 1955 does not distinguish between heterosexual, same-sex or queer spouses. It says that a ‘person’ married to an Overseas Citizen of India(OCI), who are married for two years are eligible for an OCI card.
But Solicitor General interrupted saying that ‘spouse’ mean a husband and a wife. Term marriage is associated with heterosexual couples thus no need to file a specific reply with respect to the Citizenship Act. He added said, “Marriage is permissible between biological man and biological woman.”
The case of Navtej Singh Johar, which decriminalised homo sexual acts between adults in private was often misunderstood with same-sex marriage.
The acceptance of the institution of marriage between two individuals of the same gender is neither recognized nor accepted in any uncodified personal laws or any codified statutory laws” the affidavit stated.