To put it simply: a lot.

India is home to an estimated tens of millions of LGBTQ+ people. In 2012, the Indian government put their population at 2.5 million, but global estimates believe it to be at least 10% of the entire population which would make it more than , external140 million people - that’s almost twice the size of UK’s total population.

So, a lot of attention is focused on what happens in the top court. And LGBTQ+ activists say a favourable decision would set off significant changes in society.

When the hearings started, the judges said they would look at whether the Special Marriage Act of 1954 - which allows marriages between people of different castes and religions - could be tweaked to include LGBTQ+ people.

But as the hearings progressed, it became clearer that tweaking one law would not be enough.

The bench conceded that there is a complex web of dozens of laws that governs issues of divorce, adoption, succession, maintenance and other related issues - and that many of them do spill over into religious personal laws.

With the government vehemently opposing the courts taking up the case at all, the judges are doing a tightrope walk. This, some legal experts say, could mean the court not legalising same-sex marriage and instead stopping at giving same-sex couples some social and legal rights.

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Over days of hearings in April and May, parties on both sides presented their points of view before the bench.

Lawyers for the petitioners argued that marriage was a union of two people - not just a heterosexual man and woman - and that denying same-sex couples marriage equality was a violation of their constitutional rights.

The government insisted that a marriage could legally take place only between a biological man and a biological woman and questioned the court's right to hear the matter at all, saying only parliament could decide the socio-legal issue of marriage.

Disregarding their objections, the judges said they would look at whether they could tweak the Special Marriage Act of 1954 - which allows marriage between people of different castes and religions - to include LGBTQ+ people.

The hearings were completed on 12 May and the court reserved its order.

Both sides are now hoping that the judgement will go in their favour.

The case was heard by a constitutional bench – which is set up to deal with important questions of law. Headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud, the five-judge bench includes India’s second senior-most judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justices S Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli and PS Narasimha.

Justice Chandrachud has called the issue of marriage equality for all citizens a matter of “seminal importance” and the hearings were "livestreamed in public interest". At least three of the judges have to rule in favour of the petitioners for same-sex marriage to be legalised.

We can’t second-guess what the judges have decided, but one thing that became clear as we watched the hearings - which were streamed live on YouTube - was that at the least the judges wanted to give India’s LGBTQ+ people some rights to end the discrimination they face in their daily lives.

Image source, Getty Images

Geeta Pandey
Editor, women and social affairs India

Image source, Getty Images

Hello and welcome to the BBC’s live coverage of the Indian Supreme Court’s ruling on same-sex marriage.

The top court was petitioned by several same-sex couples and LGBTQ+ activists seeking marriage equality.

There are five judges on the bench, which is headed by India’s Chief Justice, DY Chandrachud. They held hearings over several weeks in April and May and today is the decision day.

If the court okays marriage equality, it will give India's tens of millions of LGBTQ+ people the right to marry. But the judges could be more cautious, and stop at expanding certain legal rights for same-sex couples.

We’ll find out over the next few hours. We'll be bringing you live updates of everything that happens inside - and outside - the court. So stay with us.