The highest court in India concluded on Tuesday that it lacks the power to legalize same-sex marriages; instead, the parliament has the power.
The court made it clear that it is within the purview of parliament to enact laws, such as those that would legalize same-sex unions.
DY Chandrachud, the chief justice of India, presided over a five-member bench that deliberated on the case between April and May of this year before reaching a decision.
Later, on Tuesday, he made the verdict public.
As he started reading his ruling, Chandrachud noted that there was some "agreement and disagreement on how far we have to go" about same-sex weddings.
Furthermore, Chandrachud was supported by two of the other four justices, giving him a majority in the decision not to allow same-sex unions to be recognized by the court.
Two other judges have not yet commented on the situation, according to Reuters.
The court decision comes five years after a landmark 2018 decision in which the Supreme Court overturned a prohibition on homosexual sex from the colonial era.
In Asia, where most traditional beliefs still rule politics and culture, only Taiwan and Nepal permit same-sex marriages.
The petitions were rejected by the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which referred to them as "urban elitist views" and stated that parliament was the proper forum for discussion and legislation on the subject.
These weddings are not "comparable with the Indian family unit concept of a husband, a wife, and children," it has also been said.