Expanding the scope of marriage, Madras High Court has observed that same sex couples too can very well form a family since wedlock alone could not be the mode to start a family.

Even though the Supreme Court has not legalised same-sex marriage and not every parent is not like Justice Leila Seth, former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh High Court who had openly supported her gay son, a Division Bench of Justices GR Swaminathan and V Lakshminarayan observed while allowing a Habeas Corpus Petition of a 25-year-old woman against the illegal detention of her partner by the parents of the latter. In her plea, the woman from Tirupattur district has charged the police with forcing her partner to go with the parents in Vellore city.

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On the petitioner’s partner confirming before the Bench that her parents had confined her at their residence against her will, the court allowed the detainee, who is a major, to go with the petitioner. Justice Swaminathan also gave Rs 1000 from his pocket for the conveyance expenses of the duo. The Bench while censuring the police for forcing the detainee to go with their parents when a complaint has been lodged observed that the police as well as other government officials were duty bound to seriously address complaints of threats and harassment from the LGBTQIA+ community.

“We also restrain the detenu’s family members from interfering with her personal liberty. We issue a Writ of continuing Mandamus to the jurisdictional police to afford adequate protection to the detenue as well as the petitioner as and when required,” read the order.

Admitting their inability to convince the parents of the detenue to accept the relationship, the Bench said, “But the law is very clear. All Individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity possess the right to universal enjoyment of human rights.” Our society is still conservative

“Same sex couples can very well form a family. Marriage is not the sole mode to found a family. The concept of ‘chosen family’ is well settled and acknowledged in LGBTQIA+ jurisprudence. The petitioner and the detenue can very well constitute a family,” said Justice Swaminathan, who authored the verdict. The judgment also referred to the works of Justice N Anand Venkatesh who had approved a deed of familial association that purported to recognise civil union between LGBTQIA+ partners.