Now Reading: Same-sex couples seek tax benefit equality in Karnataka High Court
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Same-sex couples seek tax benefit equality in Karnataka High Court
The Karnataka High Court on Friday, 9 October heard arguments challenging the exclusion of same-sex couples from spouse-related tax benefits under the Income Tax Act, 1961. Counsel Dr Dhruv Janssen-Sanghavi told Justice B M Shyam Prasad that the denial violates Article 15, arguing the case is about equality, not marriage rights.
The petition challenges the interpretation of ‘spouse’ under Section 56(2)(x), which governs tax on gifts. The case arose from a 22-karat gold bracelet gifted by one partner to the other. The petitioners argue the gift would have been tax-exempt for a married heterosexual couple. The respondents rely on the Supreme Court's Supriyo judgment, which rejected a fundamental right to same-sex marriage, but the petitioners say that decision does not foreclose this challenge. The court has not yet pronounced its verdict.
The matter concerns the constitutional validity of differential tax treatment based on sex, even without legal recognition of same-sex unions.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Both livelaw.in and mathrubhumi.com cover Friday's hearing neutrally as a straight court report. livelaw.in provides a detailed, near-verbatim account of the petitioners' arguments, including the rebuttal of the Solicitor General's earlier submissions and the extensive reliance on the definition of 'relative' under Section 56. mathrubhumi.com, citing livelaw.in, condenses the same arguments and adds the respondents' tax-avoidance concern, which livelaw.in does not report. Neither outlet adopts a slant. The coverage is uniform in stance but differs in granularity. The key legal question remains open: whether tax discrimination can be struck down without a recognition of same-sex marriage, a point the court did not rule on Friday.
Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
Sources (2): livelaw.in (neutral report), mathrubhumi.com (neutral report)
This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry. Methodology and corrections.
