‘Ignorant, harmful’: LGBTQIA+ law school students on BCI resolution on marriage equality

NEW DELHI: Over 30 LGBTQIA+ law school student groups have condemned the Bar Council of India (BCI)’s resolution on the ongoing issue of marriage equality and termed it as “ignorant, harmful,” and “antithetic” to our constitution and inclusive social life. The students said that the resolution is trying to tell queer persons that law and the legal profession have no place for such people. Recently, BCI passed a resolution urging the Supreme Court not to deal with petitions seeking legal recognition of same sex marriage.

The students expressed hurt and a sense of alienation in BCI’s decision. “We, the undersigned, are queer and allied student groups across Indian law schools. As future members of the Bar, it has been alienating and hurtful to see our seniors engage in such hateful rhetoric. Many of us remember the feeling that we had when Navtej Singh Johar was decided: an intimately unforgettable affirmation of the law’s emancipatory, liberatory, and transformative potential. It is in this spirit that we write this statement of condemnation and solidarity,” said a statement from the student groups.

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The students argued that BCI needs to respect in letter and spirit the Advocates Act, 1961, which defines its mandate based on its regulatory function. Nothing in the Act empowers BCI to pass comments on sub judice matters, they said.

“The passing of this resolution is entirely unwarranted and a deplorable attempt by the BCI to illegitimately create influence for itself. The BCI must re-familiarise itself with the role envisioned during its establishment, look at the state of the Indian legal profession, and devote its resources to more pressing challenges – rather than needlessly entering constitutional debates,” student group added.

Indifference towards trans, queer persons

The student group further alleged that BCI’s denial of role of fundamental rights in its resolution and characterization of marriage equality as a “political decision” shows their “heinous indifference” towards the reality of trans and queer persons.

The students were most troubled by “BCI’s stunning disregard for constitutional morality” and alleged use of “hateful rhetoric” throughout the resolution. The students called it a colonial reading and said that BCI ignored the evidence of queer love and marriage in ancient times. They called BCI a “mouthpiece” of a specific class of men making dictatory comments on the culture.

“By asserting marriage as a vessel of procreation, the BCI fails to realise that the biological faculty of procreation cannot be lorded over citizens as the prerequisite for fundamental rights in a democratic and rules-based society,” the student group further said.

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The students called upon the legal fraternity not to support “discriminatory, parochial, regressive beliefs” that hamper people’s steps towards justice. “As students of law, we are proud to situate ourselves in history as a group that stood on the side of justice at this critical juncture,” student groups concluded.

The BCI resolution, which was issued after a joint meeting attended by representatives of all state bar councils, said any decision by the apex court in such a sensitive matter may prove very harmful for the future generation of the country. A five-judge Constitution bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices S K Kaul, S R Bhat, Hima Kohli and P S Narasimha is continuing with its hearing arguments on the pleas seeking validation of same sex marriage