Until we had kids, we were somehow managing,” Delhi-based businessman Uday Raj Anand says about him and his partner Parth Phiroze Mehrotra, a publishing professional. “It was inconvenient, of course, to not have legal recognition,” he admits, but the support of friends, family and colleagues saw them through. It was only in 2020, when they had their two children, that “the indignity of not being seen as a family unit, became much more apparent. It seemed extremely unjust to our children, who clearly have two parents, but on paper only have one,” he shares over a telephonic interview. “The seriousness of this issue made us want to fight for that right [to be married] after all this time,” says Anand.

In November 2022, gay couple Anand and Mehrotra moved a PIL before the Supreme Court seeking legal recognition for same sex marriages. Backing their case are several senior lawyers, including Supreme Court advocate Saurabh Kirpal, who is openly gay.