Madras High Court Asks Parents Of Same-Sex Partners To Undergo Counselling

Chennai:

The Madras High Court has asked the parents of two women, who were in a live-in relationship, to subject themselves to counselling by a specialist in the field, to face the matter wisely.

Justice N Anand Venkatesh, who gave an interim order on Tuesday, hoped that the parties will work towards a peaceful resolution.

“What is required for the present is an understanding of the issue in hand,” the judge said.

He was passing orders on a petition from the women, seeking protection for their living together without any disturbance from their respective parents.

While one of them was 22 and pursuing MBA, the other woman, 20, was an undergraduate student.

They were natives of Madurai district and were in a relationship for about two years.

They told the judge their friendship blossomed into love and that they were very clear that both of them will be a partner to each other for life.

But, their parents did not like this. They exerted pressure on them to separate. The women left Madurai and were presently under the care of a city-based NGO.

Before passing the interim order, the judge said he personally spent time in doing some research and collected materials to arrive at a proper understanding of this issue.

It would have been possible for him to pack his order with a lot of research material and get applauded by the outside world for rendering a scholarly order.

“But, there was a call from inside which kept reminding me that if I venture into such an exercise at this stage, it will only be hypocritical of me since the order will not reveal my true and honest feeling about this very important issue.”

“To be open, I am also trying to break my own preconceived notions about this issue and I am in the process of evolving and sincerely attempting to understand the feelings of the petitioners and their parents, thereafter proceed to write a detailed order on this issue,” the judge said.

That is the reason he was trying to develop this case brick by brick and ultimately, construct something purposeful on the issue, the judge added.

He directed well-known psychologist Vidya Dinakaran to counsel the parents some time in April and submit a report on April 26.

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