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The high court was hearing a plea filed by a lesbian couple seeking police protection as one of the families did not accept the couple. The high court will consider guidelines for the protection of same-sex couples that can be implemented across Maharashtra.
A division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Gauri Godse on Wednesday said that sensitization of Maharashtra State Police is required for dealing with cases related protection of same-sex couples from their families.
The high court was considering a plea filed by a lesbian couple seeking protection from one of their families who opposed their relationship. One of the girls, hailing from a state in North India, had her family file a missing complaint.
During the previous hearing, the high court granted police protection to the lesbian couple to enable them to travel and collect their documents. This order was made as the couple had been constantly changing their residence due to the threat from one of the families.
However, yesterday, Advocate Vijay Hiremath, representing the couple, informed the court that they did not travel as they were still apprehensive about the potential risks posed by one of the families. It was at this point that the division bench made a comment,
“This is not just one case, sensitization of police force across the state of Maharashtra is required,” the bench said
The division bench also said that necessary departments like the education department would also be required to be made a party to the petition for considering the guidelines.
The bench then referred to the guidelines submitted by Advocate Vijay Hiremath, which were based on the Madras High Court's directives, regarding the protection of same-sex couples and said,
“There are guidelines issued by the Madras High Court and the police conduct rules were amended. There are 17 follow-up orders which were incorporated after the order issuing guideline,” the bench said.
The high court then asked the Hiremath to refer to the guidelines and come up with draft guidelines that could be incorporated into Maharashtra police.
“You see what are rules by Madras High Court and see rules for Maharashtra police. Then you see what needs to be done and then make submissions. The implementation can happen only if you incorporate the guidelines across the state. But we want to look at the broader picture,” the bench asked.
The bench has now posted the matter for 28 July 2023.
Case title: XYZ vs State of Maharashtra
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