People in homosexual relationships will no longer be restricted from creating Joint Bank Accounts for LGBTQ individuals or designating someone as a beneficiary to receive the money, according to a circular released by the Finance Ministry. This is great news for the LGBTQ population in India.

"This is to clarify that there are no restrictions for persons of the queer community to open a joint bank account and also to nominate a person in a queer relationship as a nominee to receive the balance in the account in the event of the account holder," read an advisory that the ministry shared on August 28. The government also stated that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had earlier this month sent a clarification about the matter to all scheduled commercial banks.

Joint Bank Accounts for LGBTQ
Image Source: New Jersey Institute of Technology

Impact of the Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty Case on Joint Bank Accounts for LGBTQ Individuals

In October of last year, the Supreme Court issued a ruling in the matter of Supriyo @ Supriya Chakraborty against Union of India, which served as the impetus for the ministry's advice addressing the LGBTQ community.

The highest court concluded in a majority decision that the Constitution did not grant an unequivocal basic right to marry. On the other hand, the court ruled that anti-discrimination legislation were essential to protect LGBTQ people's rights.

The court made recommendations for things like ration cards that treat LGBT couples like members of the same family and letting them see their jailed companions. During the ruling, the court also discussed financial rewards, job rights, and legal entitlements.

A six-member committee led by the cabinet secretary was established by the central government in April of this year to look into different concerns pertaining to the LGBT community in response to the Supreme Court's ruling.

The expert-level group looked at steps that might be implemented to protect the LGBTQ community from assault, harassment, and coercion, as well as to guarantee that they were not subjected to discrimination in their access to products and services.

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