New Delhi: The Centre asked the Supreme Court on Wednesday to consider referring questions raised in the petitions seeking legal sanction for same-sex marriages to Parliament.

The apex court is dealing with a “very complex subject”

The Centre’s Solicitor General, Tushar Mehta, told a five-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the apex court is dealing with a “very complex subject” with a “profound social impact.” “The real question is who decides what constitutes marriage and between whom,” Mehta said on the fifth day of the hearing.

He told the bench, which also included Justices SK Kaul, SR Bhat, Hima Kohli, and PS Narasimha, that there would be ramifications on several other statutes that would necessitate a debate in society and in various state legislatures.