File photo of Madras High Court.
Can't medical tests for impotence and frigidity be made mandatory before wedding? What's the punishment for impotent or frigid people who suppress the fact before marriage? And what's the remedy for the aggrieved parties? These were some of the questions of the Madras High Court, to which the Central and the Tamil Nadu governments should have a reply on September 5.
The court has also directed both governments to provide statistics on impotence and frigidity cases.
It began with a 25-year-old woman seeking divorce under the Domestic Violence Act at the Family Court in Trichy a year after marriage, claiming her 32-year-old husband was impotent.
The husband moved High Court to quash her petition, claiming that she could not file it without medical evidence.
"The couple is well-educated. Though the issue is between the two individuals, Justice K Kirupakaran added the state and the central governments suo motu," Mr P Muthu Vijaya Pandian, counsel for the man, told NDTV.
The woman's lawyer was not reachable.
The number of marriages that failed due to impotence had increased from 88 in 2009 to 715 in 2013, the court said, quoting data from the Chennai family court. Taking note of the social factor, the judge said such marriages are conducted "to avoid social stigma or at the compulsion of the elders," suppressing the weakness or disability of one of the partners, reported PTI.