Compendium of Judgments
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COMPENDIUM OF JUDGMENTS RIGHT TO CHOICE IN RELATIONSHIPS Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI), 2011 First Edition : 2012 Organised by : Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI), Lucknow Supported by : Ford Foundation Printed by : Creation Graphics, Shakti Nagar, Indira Nagar, Lucknow Phone : +91 9839007834, 9044280823 Acknowledgement The compendium of judgments comes out of our work on the issue of Right to Choices since 2000. Bring- ing the judgments together in a publication was inspired by the National Colloquium organized by AALI in partnership with the UP Institute of Judicial Training and Research. We are very grateful to all the participants and resource team for all their guidance, inputs and support, Words are not enough to thank our Advisors and Board, for all their support and work, especially: Niti Saxena, for her idea in putting it together, framing it and making it possible, Seema Misra, for the editing, analysis, and all the work, We are also very grateful to Shubhangi Singh our intern and Shubham Tripathi for all their work in putting the Compendium together, However, this would not be ready for publication without all the work done by Somesh Srivastava in ensuring all the re-reading, copy-editing, numbering and all things needed to ensure a publishable version. Finally, we hope that this Compendium is useful for judges and practitioners; as well as those who continue to give meaning to human rights through their struggles, challenges and achievements, We look forward to feedback and comments AALI Team April, 2012 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................. 1 INDICES .............................................................................................................................................. 3 SUPREME COURT ............................................................................................................................. 3 Acid attacks as a tool of coercion/punishment in sexual relationships ....................................................... 3 Religious Conversion for Marriage .......................................................................................................... 3 Charges of kidnapping and rape in cases of Right to Choice and the use of Habeas Corpus...................... 4 Denial of Right to Choice to protect "Family Honor" ............................................................................ 6 Registration of Marriage ......................................................................................................................... 8 HIGH COURTS .................................................................................................................................. 9 Acid attacks as a tool of coercion/punishment in sexual relationships ....................................................... 9 Religious Conversion for Marriage ........................................................................................................ 10 Charges of kidnapping, rape in cases of Right to Choice and use of habeas corpus. ................................ 10 Denial of the Right to choice to protect Family Honor ......................................................................... 23 Decriminalising same sex relationships .................................................................................................. 26 The Special Marriage Act, 1954 ............................................................................................................ 26 JUDGMENTS .................................................................................................................................... 27 SUPREME COURT ........................................................................................................................... 27 Acid attacks as a method of coercion in reference to sexual relationships ................................................ 27 Religious Conversion for Marriage ........................................................................................................ 34 Charges of kidnapping and rape in cases of right to choice and the use of Habeas Corpus ...................... 47 Denial of Right to Choice to protect Family "Honor" .......................................................................... 60 Registration of marriage ........................................................................................................................ 88 HIGH COURTS ................................................................................................................................ 93 Acid attacks as a means of coercion in sexual relationships .....................................................................93 Religious Conversion for marriage ...................................................................................................... 107 Charges of Kidnapping and Rape in cases of Right to Choice and use of Habeas Corpus ..................... 111 Denial of Right to Choice to protect Family Honor ........................................................................... 212 Decriminalising Same Sex Relationships ............................................................................................. 232 The Special Marriage Act, 1954 .......................................................................................................... 239 INTRODUCTION A woman's rights to enter, not to enter, remain or making agency, we have intervened in several cases exit from a relationship is secured by the provisions of violence against such women and their partners of a number of International Human Rights as well as family members who dared to support Instruments and national laws. In the Indian particular choice made by their kin. Throughout Constitution the provisions under Chapter III i.e. this journey, law and human rights has remained right to equality, right to non-discrimination, right the only framework for all our interventions to to form association, right to life and personal liberty; redress the violation be it through lawyering, social safeguard women's right to choose a relationship. mediation, public or legal advocacy. While The Writ of Habeas Corpus, which literally means supporting women who have made a choice to produce the body, has also been an essential legal regarding their partners, AALI not only encountered tool in bringing together illegally separated couples. opposition from communities and families of these The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence women but also from the law enforcement agencies Act 2005 states that forcing a woman to marry or and lower judiciary. not to marry a person of her own choice is an act of Despite all the challenges and gaps in the substantive domestic violence by the family, against which a law, legal procedures and their usage execution, woman can take legal recourse. In addition, the judgments viz. Lata Singh vs. State of U.P and Supreme Court and High Courts through their Arvinder Singh Bagga V. State of U.P that have various judicial pronouncements have upheld contributed towards upholding women's decision women's right to sexual autonomy and decision- making agency and equality before law, have given making. However, despite the existing national and us strength and reinvigorated our struggle. AALI's international legal framework this right has proven close and continuous engagement with law, legal to be one of the most complex and difficult to put precedence has tremendously strengthened our into practice in the socio-cultural contexts of India. interventions and strategies for demanding justice Protection and promotion of women's right to for women. Case-law on issues related to choice, choose a relationship has been central to AALI's marriage, maintenance, dissolution, in addition to struggle for the establishment of human rights for expanding the interpretation of legal statute; women. While addressing the issue of women's provisions, language and approaches of law, has also sexual autonomy and the violation faced by them added to our understanding of the issues. The usage on account of exercising their choices and decision and contribution of case-law in ensuring the living 1. i.e. The Constitution of India, The Special Marriage Act 1954, The Hindu Marriage Act 1955, The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act 1939, The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005 etc 2. 2006 (5) SCC 475 3. AIR 1995 SC 117 nature of law itself led us to developing this herself in different courts as is illustrated by the Lata compendium of cases relevant to choice in Singh case in the compendium, which AALI is still relationship. dealing with. Since the time she got married in 2000 In the present compendium we have tried to collate to this day, Lata Singh is involved in litigation judgments from the Supreme Court and the various against her brothers who had her husband's entire High Courts that set guiding principles for the family including sisters incarcerated, made her women's struggle in the form of domestic violence, undergo a medical examination to prove she was forced marriage, acid attack, kidnapping, abduction mentally sound and had her husbands' family and rape, social ostracization (crimes committed by declared absconders. community), conversion for the purpose of marriage The compendium has been divided and categorized and, divorce. This compendium is an effort to accordingly