The SC issued notice to respondents on a plea filed by the petitioner who claimed that her partner has been detained by her parents.
The Supreme Court directed the parents of the detenu to present the detenu before the family court at Kollam. (Wikimedia Commons)
The Supreme Court on Monday, 6 February, stayed the Kerala High Court order directing a girl in a same-sex relationship to attend counselling sessions.
The Supreme Court issued notice to the concerned respondents on the plea filed by the girl in a same-sex relationship, who claimed that her partner has been detained by her parents.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, along with Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and JB Pardiwala, also ordered a stay on further proceedings in the matter before the high court till the next date of listing.
The petitioner has contended that she and her partner are both female, as per their gender orientation, and that they wish to get married and be together.
But the parents of the detenu have kept the detenu in illegal custody against her will, so as to impede the marriage between the petitioner and the detenu, the petitioner stated.
The court directed the parents of the detenu to present the detenu before the family court in Kollam. The court also directed to arrange for an interview of the detenu with Salina of the Supreme Court E-Committee.
The officer of this court shall submit a report on whether she is being kept in illegal detention, the court said.
It directed that the statements be recorded in a fair manner, without any correction. “Report to be submitted in a sealed cover,” the court stated.
The petitioner challenged the Kerala High Court on 13 January, 2023, whereby the high court directed one of the couples to attend counselling sessions with a psychiatrist, as far as her sexual orientation is concerned.
Lawyer Sriram said that in the present plea, the petitioner is seeking to invoke the basic principle of habeas corpus and seeking that the detenu be produced before the court physically.
According to the petitioner, the detenu was present through video conferencing before the Kerala High Court, whereby she clearly told the court that she is in love with the petitioner. The detenu stated that she wants to live with petitioner.
“The high court erroneously sought the detenu to be sent for counselling. The counselling impugned herein is obviously counselling to change her sexual orientation. It is most respectfully submitted that this counselling is proscribed under law, and the High Courts of Madras, Uttarakhand, and Orissa have specifically and categorically following the law laid down by this high court prohibited it. The petitioner is challenging the initial interim order dated 12 January 2023,” the petitioner stated in the plea.
“However, the petitioner is in letter and spirit challenging the interim orders dated 24 January 2023 and 2 February 2023, all of which denied the petitioner her fundamental rights. These orders have denied the detenu safety and liberty for a long period — from 9 January to the present day,” the petitioner added.
“The present Special Leave Petition carries a substantial question of law among many others. Whether the high court ought to have allowed the detenu the right to be heard physically in the safety and security of the building of the high court,” the petitioner stated.
The petitioner stated that the plea also raised the question of law as to whether “gender orientation counselling” is legal or not.
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