Jahanvi Agarwal
Recently, the office of the Prime Minister, the Council of Ministers of Nepal, and other pertinent ministries have just been ordered by the Supreme Court of Nepal to construct a “transitional mechanism” to guarantee that weddings between “same-sex couples” be registered.
The single bench of Justice Til Prasad Shrestha issued the interim order on June 28, 2023, directing the government to put the appropriate plans in place for registering the marriage of sexual and gender minority couples upon request.
The interim order from the Supreme Court of Nepal came as a result of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by seven people including activist Pinky Gurung. Pinky Gurung is the current president of Blue Diamond Society, an LGBTI rights organization. They had filed a writ to the Prime Minister and the Office of the Council of Ministers to legalize same-sex marriage.
In the instant case, the petitioners argued that despite the Supreme Court ruling that permitted same-sex marriages 15 years ago, Nepalese law continues to prohibit such marriages.
The petitioners have requested the legalization of same-sex marriage. In support of it, they have cited Clause 69 (1) of the National Civil Code 2017, which states that every citizen has the freedom to marry, and Clause 18 (1) of the Nepalese Constitution 2015, which states that all citizens are equal in the eyes of the law.
Sunil Babu Pant, a member of Nepal’s Parliament stated:
“This is a very significant development as same-sex as well as third genders and their partners can register their marriages. They will be entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples. Parliament may take a while to pass the marriage equality law but this order gives a practical solution to members of the sexual and gender minority communities who wish to register their marriage legally.”
As a result, the Supreme Court issued an interim order permitting same-sex marriages to be legally recognized until and unless special legislation legalizing such couples from sexual and gender minority groups is developed. Not only this but the apex court also directed the government to establish a “separate register of marriages” for such couples from gender minority communities.