Times have changed, consensual pre-marital sex no ground to judge character: SC
Can a consensual relationship between two unmarried adults be used to question a person's character? Can a relationship that ends without marriage automatically be treated
Can a consensual relationship between two unmarried adults be used to question a person's character? Can a relationship that ends without marriage automatically be treated as deception? In a judgment with implications far beyond a single recruitment dispute, the Supreme Court has answered both questions with a firm no. At a time when pre-marital relationships continue to attract social stigma and often find their way into courtrooms, the country's highest court has said that a physical relationship between two consenting unmarried adults cannot by itself become a basis for judging someone's character. It also warned against the tendency to presume wrongdoing merely because a relationship eventually breaks down. Read Full Story "Physical relationship between two consenting unmarried adults cannot and should not by itself be a ground to draw an adverse impression about the character of the person in that relationship. There is no law which prohibits two consenting unmarried adults to have a relationship of their choice," a bench of Justices Manmohan and Manoj Misra said, as reported by Bar and Bench. A MESSAGE BEYOND ONE CASE The observations came while the court was hearing the case of Gajula Thirupathi, a police constable recruit from Telangana whose selection was cancelled because of a criminal case stemming from a relationship with a neighbour more than a decade ago. But the judgment went much further than deciding whether one candidate deserved a government job. The bench took on a question that increasingly sits at the intersection of law, society and personal liberty: should adults be penalised for consensual relationships that do not end in marriage?
The answer, the court indicated, is no. "Not every relationship culminates in marriage. Therefore, merely because the relationship did not culminate in marriage is no ground to believe that one party has cheated the other," the judgment said, as quoted by Bar and Bench. CHANGING TIMES, CHANGING REALITIES The court recognised that social realities have evolved and authorities cannot ignore those changes while assessing people's conduct. According to the bench, pre-marital relationships are a reality of contemporary society and institutions must be sensitive to changing times rather than rely on rigid assumptions rooted in the past. In one of the most significant parts of the ruling, the judges said that where two adults remain in a relationship for a considerable period, there is a presumption that the relationship was based on valid consent. "Further, where such a relationship spans a considerable period, say a few years, time and again this Court has quashed criminal proceedings initiated by one party against the other on a complaint that the victim was lured into physical relationship by a false promise of marriage, because in such a case there would be a presumption that such relationship is based on a valid consent," the bench said. THE CASE THAT TRIGGERED THE OBSERVATIONS Thirupathi had been provisionally selected for the post of Stipendiary Cadet Trainee Police Constable. While applying, he disclosed that a criminal case had been registered against him in 2014. The case arose out of a relationship with a woman who was his neighbour.
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