Extra-marital affairs have become social evil contributing to crime: Madras HC

Chennai: "Extra-marital relationship has become a dangerous social evil nowadays. Many heinous crimes including ghastly murders, assaults and kidnappings are committed because of clandestine relationships and they are alarmingly increasing day-by-day", observed the Madras high court while posing 20 queries to be answered by the Tamil Nadu and Union governments.

A division bench comprising Justices N.Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose said most of the killings are either by husbands or wives to eliminate his or her cheating partner, the paramour and shockingly even children. Moreover, murders are being committed either by husband or wife to continue the relationship with paramour, they added.

The bench was setting aside an order, detaining Ajith Kumar under the Goondas Act, by the authorities.

Originally, Joseph alias Ranjith Kumar was having illicit relationship with a woman, who in turn developed contacts with Lokesh, a friend of Joseph. On coming to know this relationship, Joseph attacked Lokesh and subsequently Joseph was detained under the Goondas Act. After the expiry of the detention, Joseph developed contact with another woman. While so, when Joseph was standing along with his friends in Ayyanavaram, Lokesh came along with his associates armed with weapons and attacked Joseph, who fell down in a pool of blood and died. A murder case was registered against Lokesh and five of his associates Ajith Kumar and four others. Later Ajith Kumar was detained under the Goondas Act.

Setting aside the detention order on technical grounds including the delay in passing the detention order, the bench said though the detention order passed by the Commissioner of Police, Chennai, the matter was kept pending to deal with the social evil-extra marital relationship which was the basic reason for the murder in this case. Marriage in India was based on love, faith, trust and legitimate expectation. The marital relationship was considered to be sacred. However, what was to be sacred, was dangerously fast becoming scary shattering families due to outside conjugal relationship, the bench added.

The bench said therefore, to adjudicate the said issue of extra-marital relationship between men and women, this court suo motu impleads Union of India, represented by its secretary, ministry of family welfare, New Delhi and the state of Tamil Nadu, represented by its secretary, home department as respondents. Assistant solicitor general G.Karthikeyan takes notice on behalf of newly impleaded Union government and additional public prosecutor M.Mohamed Riyaz takes notice on behalf of the newly impleaded Home Secretary, the bench added.

The bench said in view of spurt in offences, especially, murders due to extra-marital affairs, it was the bounden duty of this court to address this issue. "In an effort to find out the reasons and find ways and means to address the issue of "extra-marital relationship" and to prevent/reduce the related offences, queries are being raised by this court. Therefore, the queries are neither opinion nor finding or conclusions of this court", the bench added and posed 20 queries to be answered by the state and Union governments.

Soaps, social media behind extramarital affairs? Court poses 20 questions

In an effort to find out the reasons and find ways and means to address the
issue of "extra-marital relationship" and to prevent/reduce the related offences, the Madras high court has posed 20 queries to be answered by the state and Union governments.

A division bench comprising Justices N. Kirubakaran and Abdul Quddhose posed the 20 queries and posted the matter to the third week of June 2019.

The queries are:
QHow many murders took place in Chennai as well as in Tamil Nadu and in India for the past 10 years due to extra-marital affairs?
QHome many offences like suicide, kidnapping and assault , other than murder were committed due to illicit intimacy in Chennai, Tamil Nadu and in India for the past 10 years?
QWhether there is phenomenal increase in the number of offences due to immoral relationship year by year?
QIs it a fact that the mega television serials and cinemas are major reasons for the increase in scandalous relationship in our country?
QWhether mega television serials and cinemas invariably give clue to the people involved in clandestine relationship to commit the offences including murders and kidnapping?
QWhether spouses are increasingly engaging paid killers to get rid of their life partners?
QIs it a fact that the economic independence of both the spouses is responsible for spurt in extra-marital affairs?
QIs it a fact that the increase in illicit relationships is because of sexual dysfunctions or deficiencies of the spouses?
QDoes the spurt in scandalous affairs due to internet which offers platforms, like, Facebook, Facetime, WhatsApp and Instagram giving many chances for strangers to get connected?
QWhether the increase in clandestine relationship is due to westernisation of our culture and way of life?
QAre illicit affairs due to invalidity of men due to their alcohol addiction?
QWhether illicit intimacy is due to lack of quality time spent by the spouses with each other, depriving of their emotional, psychological support and physical comfort and pleasure?
QWhether better public exposure of women, who rightly broke restrictive customs, and their mingling with third parties in their offices or professions are some of the reasons for clandestine relationships?
QWhether breaking away of joint family system and formation of nucleus family are responsible for the increase in extra-marital relationship?
QIs it correct to say that non-teaching of moral and ethical values in the schools is primarily responsible for many social evils including illicit affairs?
QIs it a fact that scandalous relationships are due to conduct of arranged marriages contrary to the wishes of the bride or bridegroom?
QDoes mismatch of couples cause illicit intimacy?
QWhat are all the sociological, psychological and economical factors responsible for spurt in extra-marital relationship?
QWhy not the Central government and the State government constitute an expert committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge/retired high court judge, consisting of psychologists, psychiatrists, andrologists, neurologists, physicians, social activists, Non Governmental Organisation who work for safeguarding the families, to study and analyse the reasons for the social menace of extra-marital relationship and find out the reasons for increase in illicit relationship/extra-marital relationship and give suggestions/solutions to arrest the evil and prevent connected offences in the interest of families/society?
QWhy not the respondents (authorities) constitute Family Counselling Centre to give counseling to the spouses in every district?