Homosexuality in the Jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of India

234 Pages·2017·2.425 MB·English

by  Yeshwant Naik (auth.)

Yeshwant Naik
Homosexuality
in the
Jurisprudence
of the Supreme
Court of India
Homosexuality in the Jurisprudence of the Supreme
Court of India
Yeshwant Naik
Homosexuality in the
Jurisprudence of the Supreme
Court of India
YeshwantNaik
DepartmentofCivilLaw,PhilosophyofLawandMedicalLaw
UniversityofMuenster
Muenster,Germany
D6
ErsterBerichterstatter:Prof.Dr.ThomasGutmann
ZweiteBerichterstatterin:Prof.Dr.BettinaHeiderhoff
Dekan:Prof.Dr.JanberndOebbecke
Tagdermu¨ndlichenPru¨fung:13.12.2016
Zugl.:Mu¨nster(Westf.),Univ.,Diss.derRechtswissenschaftlichenFakulta¨t,2016
ISBN978-3-319-55434-1 ISBN978-3-319-55435-8 (eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-55435-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2017934920
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Preface
This work was accepted by the Faculty of Law, Westfaelische Wilhelms Univer-
sity, Muenster, during Winter Semester 2016. This was within the institutional
frameworkofClusterofExcellence—ReligionandPolitics.Itwaspartlyfundedby
Sahodari Foundation and SCHOD Society, Pondicherry, India, and DAAD in
association with the Westfaelische Wilhelms University, Muenster. For the social
anthropologicalpartofmyresearch,IwasactivelyassociatedwiththeInstituteof
Ethnology,Muenster,foraperiodofeighteenmonths.
Alltheseinstitutionshavegivenmepreciousinspirationandthought-provoking
inputsintheformofdiscussionstolookbeyondthelegalframeworkbygivingmy
researchaninterdisciplinaryanthropologicalperspective.Iamverythankfultoall
theseinstitutionsformakingitpossible.
I owe sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Thomas Gutmann (Chair of Civil Law,
PhilosophyofLawandMedicalLaw),WestfaelischeWilhelmsUniversity,Muen-
ster,whoprovidedmecrucialinputsonmyresearchthemefromthebeginningtill
thefinalrealizationofthework.Thesupportheextendedinspiredmetogoforan
interdisciplinaryresearchcombiningthesubjectoflawandsocialanthropology.
In addition, I was extremely fortunate for having Prof. Dr. Bettina Heiderhoff,
(Chair of International Private and Procedural Law and Civil Law, Institute of
German and International Family Law), Westfaelische Wilhelms University,
Muenster,asmyco-guiderightfromtheinitialstageofmyresearch.Iamgrateful
toherforherkindnessandsupervisionandforbeingacruciallinkbetweenmeand
myresearchsupervisor.
Finally,manythankstotheemotionalsupportofferedbymyparentsandfriends.
Withouttheirsupportandinspiration,thisworkwouldnothavebeenpossible.
Munster,Germany YeshwantNaik
February2017
v
Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.2 TheLegalEvolutionofHomosexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.1 TraditionalReligiousMoralityandtheCondemnation
ofHomosexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2.2 TwentiethandTwenty-FirstCenturySocialChanges
andSexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.3 TheUnfoldingofHomosexualityinIslamicCountries. . . 7
1.2.4 HomosexualityinAncientandModern-DayIndia. . . . . . 8
1.3 Liberalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.1 ThePrincipleofEqualConcernandRespect. . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3.2 DistinctionBetweenEthicsandMorality. . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.3 DiscriminationPersists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3.4 DworkinandJudicialDiscretion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.4 GroundRealityoftheResearchProblem:ResearchStudy
ataGlance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.1 HumanRightsandGayRights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.4.2 TheIndianandtheInternationalContext. . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1.4.3 PressingProblem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.4.4 TheIndianLegalContext. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . .. 17
1.4.5 StudyObjectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
1.4.6 HypothesisandResearchQuestions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.4.7 Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.5 Analysis.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 24
1.6 ChapterScheme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2 InterpretativeMethodsandJudicialPower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.2 ConstitutionalEvolution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.3 SourcesoftheConstitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4 ThePreambleoftheConstitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
vii
viii Contents
2.5 SalientFeaturesoftheConstitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5.1 WrittenConstitution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2.5.2 ParliamentaryFormofGovernment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5.3 ASecularState. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.5.4 FederalStructure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
2.5.5 WelfareState. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.5.6 AdultSuffrage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 35
2.5.7 IndependentJudiciary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.6 HistoricalEvolutionoftheIndianJudicialSystem. . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.6.1 JudicialSysteminAncientIndia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
2.6.2 JudicialSysteminMedievalIndia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.6.3 JudicialSystemToday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
2.7 CompositionoftheSupremeCourt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.7.1 CourtofRecord. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. 41
2.7.2 OriginalJurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.7.3 WritJurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.7.4 AppellateJurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.7.5 AppealbySpecialLeave. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.7.6 PowerofReviewandCurativePetitions. . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.7.7 AdvisoryJurisdiction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.8 HighCourtsandSubordinateCourts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.8.1 SubordinateCourts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.9 SupremeCourtonthe“BasicStructure”oftheConstitution. . . . 45
2.10 PowerofJudicialReview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.11 PublicInterestLitigation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.12 OtherPrinciplesofJudicialInterpretation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.13 BindingJurisdictionoftheSupremecourt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
2.14 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3 TheJurisprudenceofDiscriminationAgainstLGBTIPersons:
GlobalIssuesandConcerns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
3.2 UrgentProblem:LGBTIDiscriminationAroundtheWorld. . . . 54
3.3 OverviewofStateObligations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3.4 LegalDiscrimination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
3.4.1 MaltreatmentbyPolice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
3.4.2 Same-SexMarriagesNotLegal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.4.3 DiscriminationintheMedicalField,Family
andEmployment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
3.4.4 NegativeSocietalImages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.4.5 MediaDiscrimination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Contents ix
4 AddressingJudicialActivismandJudicialRestraint. . . . . . . . . . . . 67
4.1 RoleoftheJudiciary:FromRetroactivetoProactive. . . . . . . . . 67
4.2 IndianUnderstandingofJudicialActivismandJudicial
Restraint. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4.3 JudicialActivismandtheApplicationofInternationalLaw
andHumanRights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
4.4 PublicInterestLitigation:ADynamicApproach. . . . . . . . . . . . 78
4.4.1 ProtectionfromInhumanTreatment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
4.4.2 ChildWelfare. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.4.3 EnvironmentalProtection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
4.4.4 ProtectionofWomen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.4.5 JudicialActivismontheRighttoLife. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
4.5 Section377oftheIndianPenalCodeVerdict:UnfairlyJudged. . . 85
4.6 ConcludingRemarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
5 AnalyzingtheSupremeCourt’sVerdictonSection377oftheIndian
PenalCode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
5.2 JudicialDiscrimination:HowtheVerdictErasedBasicRights. . . 94
5.3 TheArtofJudging. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5.4 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
6 LawBeyondtheLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
6.2 EthnographicResearch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
6.2.1 Methodology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
6.2.2 FormalandInformalInterviews. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
6.2.3 TargetedGroups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
6.3 HomosexualSocialPracticesWorldwide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
6.3.1 ExamplesofHomosexualityAcrossTimeandSpace. . . . 111
6.3.2 HomosexualityUnderChristianity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
6.4 MasculinityinaHetero-NormativeSociety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
6.4.1 AssumingGenderRolesoftheOppositeSex.. . . .. . . .. 116
6.4.2 PerformingMasculinity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
6.4.3 MasculinityandFemininityAmongGayMen. . . . . . . . . 119
6.4.4 GayintheInformationAge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
6.4.5 GayinPrivate,MarriedinPublic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
6.4.6 PropensitiesofGaySub-CultureinIndia. . . . . . . . . . . . 125
6.4.7 LocallyCommercializedGaySex. . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . 129
6.4.8 CultivatingPositivePower. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
6.5 TheLivingLawApproachbyEhrlich. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
6.5.1 CriticismoftheLivingLawApproach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
6.5.2 ConcludingRemarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
6.6 TowardsLawandBeyondLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.7 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
x Contents
7 GlobalDiscriminationAgainstGayFamilies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
7.2 TheUnitedNationsandFamilyRights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
7.3 EuropeanUnionandFamilyRights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
7.4 RulingsoftheUNHumanRightsCommittee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
7.5 RulingsoftheEuropeanCourtofHumanRights. . . . . . . . . . . . 151
7.6 SummaryandConclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
7.7 FamilyLifeinIndia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
7.7.1 CustomaryLawofIndia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
7.7.2 SignificanceofMutualConsentandCompanionship. . . . 164
7.8 UnderAttack:Same-SexMarriageandGayFamilyFormation. . . 166
7.9 LackofStudiesontheDiscourseofGayMenandGay
Families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
7.10 ANarrowViewofGayRelationships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
7.11 AComparisonofHeterosexualandGayRelationships. . . . . . . . 169
7.12 RelationstoBiologicalFamily. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
7.13 DiverseFamiliesandKinship. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
7.14 HijraCommunity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
7.15 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
8 SuggestionsandConcludingRemarks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
8.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
8.2 ConsistencyofJudgmentsandthePerception
ofHomosexuality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
8.3 JudicialProtectionExtendedtoCertainSexualMinorities. . . . . 187
8.4 ReasonsfortheCourt’sCurrentApproach. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
8.5 SuggestionstotheCourt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
8.6 Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
9 SummaryandMainThesis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
List of Statutes
ArmyActofIndia,1950
ChildMarriageRestraintAct,1929
ChristianMarriageAct,1872
Constitution(42ndAmendment)Act,1976
Constitution(FifteenthAmendment)Act,1963
Constitution(FirstAmendment)Act,1951
Constitution(SeventhAmendment)Act,1956
Constitution24thAmendmentAct,1971
Constitution78thamendmentAct,1995
ConsumerProtectionAct,1986
ContemptofCourtsAct,1971
CriminalLaw(Amendment)Act,2013
DomesticViolenceAct,2005
EmploymentofChildrenAct,1938
Environment(Protection)Act,1986
GenderRecognitionAct,2004
GovernmentofIndiaAct,1919
GovernmentofIndiaAct,1935
HinduAdoptionandMaintenanceAct,1956
ImmoralTraffic(Prevention)Act,1956
IndianDivorceAct,1869
IndianForeignMarriageAct,1969
IndianHighCourtsAct,1861
InformationTechnologyActofIndia,2000
JuvenileJustice(CareandProtectionofChildren)Act,2000
JuvenileJusticeAct,2015
MuslimDissolutionofMarriageAct,1939
NavyActofIndia,1957
ParsiMarriageandDivorceAct,1865
PoliceActofIndia,1861
ProtectionofHumanRightsAct,1993
xi