NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s prime court docket refused to legalize same-sex marriages, with the chief justice of the nation saying Tuesday that it was as much as Parliament to create such a legislation.

Chief Justice DY Chandrachud additionally urged the federal government to uphold the rights of the queer group and finish discrimination towards them.

The five-judge bench earlier this 12 months heard 20 petitions that sought to legalize same-sex marriage on the planet’s most populous nation.

Chandrachud stated there have been levels of settlement and disagreement among the many justices “on how far we have to go” on same-sex marriages.

“This court can’t make law. It can only interpret it and give effect to it,” the chief justice stated, reiterating that it was as much as Parliament to resolve whether or not it might increase marriage legal guidelines to incorporate queer unions.

Legal rights for LGBTQ+ individuals in India have been increasing over the previous decade, and most of those modifications have come by way of the Supreme Court’s intervention.

Tuesday’s judgment comes after the highest court docket in 2018 struck down a colonial-era legislation that had made homosexual intercourse punishable by as much as 10 years in jail and expanded constitutional rights for the homosexual group.

The determination was seen as a historic victory for LGBTQ rights, with one choose saying it will “pave the way for a better future.”