After successfully defining ‘Sandals’ and ‘Chappals’, the Indian Judiciary is now on a new hunt to discover what really causes people to indulge in extra-marital affairs.
According to a report by Live Law, a bench of the Madras High Court earlier this week has asked a set of twenty questions to Central and State Governments, to ‘find out’ the reasons to why people resort to illicit relationships despite being married.
Terming extra-marital relationship as a ‘dangerous social evil’, a division bench comprising Justices N Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose observed that clandestine relationships such as extra-marital affairs are leading a rise in the number of heinous crimes across the country.
A large number of these killings are being done by either husbands or wives to eliminate their cheating partner or paramour or even children, observed the court. The bench also observed that murders are also being committed by husbands or wives in order to continue their affairs with their respective paramours.
The bench further wanted to know whether TV Serials, cinemas, economic independence of Spouses, social media, westernisation, alcohol, nuclear family system, non-teaching of moral/ethical values in schools, forced arranged marriages, more public exposure of working women and their mingling with office colleagues, had an effect on people indulging in extra-marital affairs.
The bench made these observations while setting aside an order by the police commissioner of Chennai to detain Ajith Kumar under the Goondas Act. Kumar along with five others was booked for attacking a person called Joseph over his dispute with another man named Lokesh. The five accused reportedly attacked Joseph in Ayyanavaram with weapons resulting in instant death.
“Extra-marital relationship is the basic reason for the murder in this case. Marriage in India is based on love, faith, trust and legitimate expectation. The marital relationship is considered to be sacred. However, what is to be sacred is dangerously fast becoming scary shattering families due to outside conjugal relationship,” observed Madras High Court.
While setting aside the detention order for Ajith Kumar on technical grounds, the divisional bench directed the state and the Centre and State Government to respond to a list of twenty questions, which includes a varied number of issues related to illicit relationships by married individuals.
