Mr. Nihit Nagpal, Partner at SSRANA & Co. Was invited as one of the speakers at the International Bar Association Family Law Committee to give an insight on the recent Judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India on Same-Sex Marriages and its global relevance at IBA’s Annual Conference along with various experts from different jurisdictions.
Mr. Nagpal covered the background of the judgment, stemming from the landmark verdicts in Navtej Johar and K.S. Putuswamy, followed by summarising submissions of the Petitioners and the Respondents. Mr. Nagpal also discussed how the majority ruling is a setback for #LGBTQIA+ which held that the Special Marriage Act cannot include non-heterosexual couples, due to the fishnet of various personal laws that need legislative amendment and the judiciary can not enter into the realm of legislation by amending over 150 legislations.
Mr. Nagpal ended the discussion with a minority ruling in the verdict that suggested the need to recognize civil unions by the State for Non-heterosexual couples and as such, is the silver lining behind the Rainbow!
Mr. Nagpal concluded the discussion with one of the observations of Justice Kaul wherein he quoted a song by Jon Bon Jovi, “It’s My Life”, emphatically stressing the need to preserve the autonomy of same-sex couples as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others in the society.
The Panel discussion on the intriguing subject of LGBTQ and family law – a global view, was also graced by the presence of other speakers from across the globe, namely, Robert Ellison, Attorney, São Paulo, Brazil; Co-Chair, LGBTQI+ Law Committee, Marion Bonnet Law, Paris, France, Leonardo Pinta, Studio Legale Associato Shearman & Sterling LLP, Rome, Italy and Carli Schickerling, Schickerling Attorneys, Windhoek, Namibia.