Same-Sex Marriage/Marriage Equality- Supreme Court Hearing- LIVE UPDATES - DAY 8

The bench has risen for the day. The hearings to continue tomorrow.

Datar: The recognition of same sex couples is a newly recognised right. It would be dangerous if these new found rights are retrofitted into old statutes.

Sr Adv Datar concludes his arguments.

Datar: If your lordships now wants to answer the prayers, it'll amount to judicial retrofitting. The definition of retrofitting is to fit a new component into an old machinery.

Datar: But my humble submission is, making that declaration is the constitutional border of the judiciary. What rights same sex couples have- that is in territory of legislature.

Datar: Decriminalisation of homosexuality was a historic moment. It would be a jewel in the crown of Supreme Court. It's a huge impact of reading down a biblical based law which was anachronist to constitutional democracy.

Datar: So they use the word life partner differently than spouse. So spouse is not necessarily inclusive of life partner.

Datar: My last submission is that if you see the Arbitration and the Conciliation Act, in the 7th schedule, in conflict of interest, explanation one, they use the word "close family member refers to spouse, sibling, child, parent, or life partner."

Datar: I'm putting a proposition that once you recognise a right, future laws must take that recognition into account but there could be some derivative rights...

Datar: One cannot predict what will be the side effect or collateral damage or impact on other statutes.

Datar: Navtej Johar was monocentric. Shafeen Jahan was monocentric. Joseph Shine was monocentric. But this is a polycentric dispute where a large number of provisions will be involved.