How court stood by queer couple's rights as a ‘chosen' family
In a quiet room of the
Madras High Court
, a young woman's freedom was restored. More than that, something beautiful unfolded. The court recognised that family, in its deepest and truest sense, is not always something we are born into.
Sometimes, it is something we choose. And sometimes, it chooses us.
This was the case of a young lesbian woman who was confined by her biological family. Her partner, brave and undeterred, approached the court seeking her release through a habeas corpus petition. What began as a personal struggle for one couple became a significant moment in India's legal history. The court ruled that under Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty, the right to form a "chosen family" is protected.
The judgment came without fanfare. No front-page headlines, no breathless TV panels. Yet, its quiet compassion may make it one of the most meaningful verdicts for queer communities in India, perhaps for anyone who has ever felt out of place in their own home and longed for a different kind of belonging. What emerged from this case was not merely an order for release but a broader constitutional articulation, one that shifts the prevailing legal understanding of family in India.
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Traditionally, Indian statutes and jurisprudence have treated family as a legal unit formed through blood ties, marriage, or adoption.
The judgment suggests that such a framework, while still operative, is no longer exhaustive. It affirms that emotional interdependence, mutual care, and voluntary association can constitute family, and that such relationships merit protection under the Constitution. The approach is grounded in landmark Supreme Court decisions: Justice K S Puttaswamy vs Union of India (2017) declared the right to privacy a fundamental right under Article 21, redefining liberty to include decisional autonomy over intimate choices; Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India (2018) decriminalised consensual same-sex relationships, holding that constitutional morality, not social morality, must guide the interpretation of fundamental rights; and Supriyo vs Union of India (2023), while declining to legalise same-sex marriage, unequivocally recognised the dignity of queer relationships and acknowledged their right to cohabit and form households.
These decisions established a framework wherein personal autonomy, dignity, and identity are intrinsic to the constitutional promise of liberty. The Madras HC extends this logic: if individuals are constitutionally entitled to love and cohabit with whom they choose, it necessarily follows that such relationships must be seen as familial in nature. Each of these rulings reminds us that freedom is not simply the absence of interference; it is the presence of dignity.
A striking element of the judgment is its explicit critique of police inaction. Despite the woman's stated preference to reside with her partner, law enforcement authorities failed to act with urgency. She told the police she wanted to live with her partner. But the police, perhaps fearing backlash from her biological family, did not act. This is not uncommon. For many LGBTQIA+ people in India, the law is not always a shield.
The home, far from being a safe place, can become a site of silence, shame, or violence. And when people turn to police or the courts, they are often met with hesitation, suspicion, or indifference.
Citing Shakti Vahini vs Union of India (2018), the HC ruling reminds the state that honour, tradition, or family control cannot be excuses to deny someone their freedom. The Constitution's promise of liberty does not stop at the doorstep of one's natal home.
The HC reiterated the state's duty to protect people from honour-based coercion, forced confinement, and familial violence. The judgment makes clear that the state cannot abdicate its constitutional obligations on the basis of social discomfort.
The court also emphasised that constitutional rights are enforceable within the domestic sphere. When an adult expresses autonomous choice, state institutions must act to safeguard it.
For a long time, Indian law has measured family by only a few yardsticks: blood, marriage, or legal adoption. These categories do not always leave room for the love between two friends who raise a child together, or the care between ageing companions who share their final years, or queer couples who are denied legal recognition but live like any other family.
The judgment implicitly challenges the formalistic boundaries of Indian family law.
Currently, statutes such as the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Guardians and Wards Act, and employment and pension rules operate on presumptions about what constitutes family. However, the court's recognition of chosen families requires a rethinking of these frameworks. If a queer partner is legally acknowledged as part of one's family for purposes of liberty and cohabitation, ancillary rights such as access to healthcare decisions, housing, pensions, inheritance, and next-of-kin status must logically follow.
This creates a necessary tension between constitutional rights and statutory limitations. The Constitution, as interpreted by the higher judiciary, recognises a more inclusive notion of family. The legislature and subordinate rule-making authorities must now respond with corresponding reform.
Courts in several jurisdictions have recognised non-traditional family forms: In Canada, jurisprudence has acknowledged "functional families" based on emotional and financial dependency, even in the absence of marriage or consanguinity.
The Yogyakarta Principles, developed under international human rights law, urge states to ensure that individuals of all sexual orientations and gender identities can form families of their choosing without discrimination.
The Madras HC's judgment implicitly aligns with these global developments.
No parade will mark this judgment. No stamp will seal it in textbooks just yet. But it is revolutionary in its own way. It reminds us that families are not just born—they are also made. By extending constitutional shelter to chosen families, the court has not merely resolved a dispute. It has reaffirmed the dignity of the individual, the autonomy of choice, and the capacity of the Constitution to embrace a plurality of lives.
(The writer is an advocate at Madras High Court)
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