Lawfully Yours: By Retd Justice K Chandru

CHENNAI: Social norms are not static and law recognises societal needs

Q: The Supreme Court has directed that a five-judge bench will hear petitions relating to same-sex marriages. While this has made those desirous of removing legal barriers to same-sex marriage hopeful about getting a favourable verdict from the court, it has also triggered panic among those like me who won’t be able to come to terms with such a society. While ‘gender’ and sexual orientation can be one’s individual choice, giving the same legality may not augur well for the society and the family values we share.

— Vivekamrutham, Alandur

A: If according to you “gender and sexual orientation can be an individual’s choice” then till a few years ago the same was a criminal offence under section 377 IPC. The law enacted in 1860 was based on Western notions, thanks to the SC it was decriminalised. Therefore, it’s natural for people to demand legitimacy to get same-sex marriages legalised. The government is opposing it saying social norms will be broken if the court decides in favour of it. Ultimately the court will have to decide. But such issues need not get blown out of context. Social norms are not static and the law recognises societal needs. Did not the law ban bigamy, child marriages, and Sati and permit widow marriages? Is not the law in the name of custom permitting marriages between a male and his sister’s daughter though ‘sagotra’ marriage is illegal?

After spending crores on med edu, State entitled to prescribe selection methods too

Q: False promises and delaying tactics being adopted by the government and politicians on the NEET issue need to be condemned in no uncertain terms. It’s the lure of these promises that our students nurture false hopes and on failing to materialise them end up killing themselves. Such false hopes also deplete the confidence level among the students who instead of developing a competitive mentality end up looking for incentives. Can the law stop the government from looking for ‘NEET martyrs’ and naming halls for political gains?

— S Ramamurthy, Chengalpattu

A: Every cause will have martyrs and those who believed in such causes will also build or name memorials to those martyrs. Whether NEET is required for medical admission or not is a policy issue and a State government can demand its abolition. The best method of selection of students is yet to be evolved. We’ve come a long way from the interview method of selection to the entrance exam method to one based on higher secondary marks. The State spending crores of rupees to run medical colleges as per MCI norms is also entitled to prescribe methods of selection. Some top doctors who are celebrities now did not go to medical colleges by writing NEET. The objectionable issue is when elected representatives make a law exempting NEET, why is the Governor sitting over it for years, even when the court was moved to send it to the President’s consideration?