SC Agrees To Hear Same-Sex Couple’s Plea Against Kerala’s HC Order For Counseling Sessions With Psychiatrist

The Supreme Court agreed to hear a petition on Monday from a same-sex couple challenging a Kerala High Court order requiring one of them to attend counselling sessions with a psychiatrist.

A bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud directed the petitioner’s lawyer to keep the brief ready and stated that the matter would be heard at the end of the board.

Petitioner’s Advocate Sriram P mentioned the plea before the Supreme Court seeking an urgent hearing.

The Petitioner challenged the Kerala High Court’s order of January 13, 2023, in which the High Court ordered one of them to attend sexual orientation counselling sessions with a psychiatrist.

The same-sex couple stated in their petition that they are female according to their gender orientation and that they both want to marry and be together. However, However, the detenu’s parents have kept her in illegal custody against her will in order to prevent the petitioner and the detenu from marrying.

According to Advocate Sriram, the petitioner sought to invoke the fundamental principle of Habeas Corpus and have the detainee physically produced before the court.

According to the petitioner, the detenu appeared before the Kerala High Court via video conferencing and stated clearly that she is in love with the petitioner and wishes to come with her and live happily ever after.

The petitioner stated, “The High Court incorrectly requested that the detainee be sent for counselling. The counselling at issue here is clearly counselling to change her sexual orientation. It is respectfully submitted that this counselling is illegal under the law, and that the High Courts of Madras, Uttarakhand, and Odisha have specifically and categorically followed the law laid down by this High Court, which prohibits it,” According to the petitioner.

According to the plea, the petitioner is challenging the interim orders dated January 24, 2023 and February 2, 2023, all of which denied the petitioner her fundamental rights. According to the petitioner, these orders have denied the detainee’s safety and liberty for a long time, from January 9, 2023 to the present.

“Among many other issues, the current Special Leave Petition raises a significant legal question. Whether the High Court ought to have allowed the detainee the right to be heard physically in the safety and security of the building of the High Court,” the petition said, adding that the plea also raised the legal question of whether “gender orientation counselling” is legal or not.