‘Atypical Families Also Entitled To Protection Of Law’: Supreme Court

In a significant observation made recently, the Supreme Court noted that domestic partnerships between unmarried couples and queer relationships—basically all types of atypical family units—are also entitled to legal recognition and protection like typical, heterosexual family units. “Familial relationships may take the form of domestic, unmarried partnerships or queer relationships,” a bench consisting of justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna noted, while granting the relief of maternity leave to a Central Government employee, regardless of the fact that she had availed child care leave previously.

"The predominant understanding of the concept of a "family" both in the law and in society is that it consists of a single, unchanging unit with a mother and a father (who remain constant over time) and their children,” the bench said. “This assumption ignores both, the many circumstances which may lead to a change in one’s familial structure, and the fact that many families do not conform to this expectation to begin with. Familial relationships may take the form of domestic, unmarried partnerships or queer relationships. A household may be a single parent household for any number of reasons, including the death of a spouse, separation, or divorce. Similarly, the guardians and caretakers (who traditionally occupy the roles of the "mother" and the "father") of children may change with remarriage, adoption, or fostering. These manifestations of love and of families may not be typical but they are as real as their traditional counterparts. Such atypical manifestations of the family unit are equally deserving not only of protection under law but also of the benefits available under social welfare legislation".

The observation is being hailed by the LGBTQIA+ community as a step in the right direction, and may help formalise relationships and marriages of persons from the community. “The black letter of the law must not be relied upon to disadvantage families which are different from traditional ones,” as the court noted. Though there is still very little data about atypical families like these, it is assumed that there is a significant number of Indians who are in live-in relationships, are widowed or single parents, or consist of people in queer relationships who are also left out of welfare schemes.