Same Sex Marriage- Supreme Court Constitution Bench Hearing-DAY-2- LIVE UPDATES

Singhvi: The SMA is a non religious marriage related legislation. This addresses the point of the respondent which is "cultural understanding of marriage as a union". Cultural understanding of marriage was not the basis of SMA.

Adv Karuna Nundy: Under the Transgender Act, Kinnars, Aravanis, Hijras, Jogtis are recognised as a separate class.

Counsel: These are the lives they've led. And to say that this is an elitist concern is wrong.

Counsel: Similarly, in my petition, Akkai Padmashali- she is a well known trans activist. At the age of 15, she was thrown out of her own house. She had to drop out of school, she was on the streets, and thereafter she came back mainstream.

Vishwanathan: Today she is a member of the Transgender Council nominated by the government under the Act!

Sr Adv KV Vishwanathan: My client is transgender, was disowned by the family, begged on the streets, and today she is director in KPMG- all by herself. For her to be branded an "urban elitist" shows absolute lack of grace.

CJI DY Chandrachud: There is no data coming out of the government that this is urban or something.

Singhvi: One of the points we're making is that every averment in the counter is without a single survey, single data, single test.

CJI DY Chandrachud: It may be more urban in its manifestations because more people in urban areas are coming out of the closet.

CJI DY Chandrachud: And when you say that this is an innate characteristic, it's also an argument in response to the contention that this is very elitist or urban or it has a certain class bias. Something which is innate cannot have a class bias.

CJI DY Chandrachud: So you're saying, the state cannot discriminate against an individual on the basis of a characteristic over which a person has no control.

Singhvi: Exactly!