<span style="color: #222222;">The Centre has urged the Supreme Court that all States and Union Territories be made parties to the proceedings on the pleas seeking legal validation for same-sex marriages.<br />''<br />''In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the Centre has said it has issued a letter yesterday to all the States inviting comments and views on the "seminal issue" raised in the pleas.<br />''<br />''Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, requested a five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud that States be made parties to the proceedings.<br />''<br />''The  apex court had on 25th  November last year sought the Centre's response to separate pleas moved by two gay couples seeking enforcement of their right to marry and a direction to the authorities concerned to register their marriages under the Special Marriage Act.</span><br />