Khushboo wins legal battle on pre-marital sex remark

“I have always been a fighter. I was always right,” said Tamil actress Khushboo as the Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed 22 criminal cases against her for allegedly endorsing pre-marital sex through her remarks.

A bench comprising chief justice KG Balakrishnan and justice BS Chauhan said the 39-year-old actor’s comments were her personal views and the constitution entitles her to express them. A copy of the judgment is awaited.

Khushboo’s comment, “No educated man would expect his bride to be a virgin”, published in a magazine, sparked outrage in southern India where criminal cases were filed against her. She tendered an open apology, saying she would never dream of sullying the image of the Tamil people, but it failed to pacify annoyed citizens. Many believed she had crossed the line by saying there was nothing wrong with live-in relationships and that it was fine for girls to indulge in pre-marital sex after taking precautions to keep unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases at bay.

In its ruling, the bench asked, “When two adults want to live together, what is the offence? Does it amount to an offence? Living together is not an offence. It cannot be an offence.”

At the fag end of the hearing of Khushboo’s petition, the judges disapproved of the plea by her opposition counsel that her comments endorsing pre-marital sex would adversely affect the minds of young people, leading to decay in moral values and the country’s ethos. “Living together is a [part of the] right to life,” the court said. “How does it concern you? We are not bothered. At the most it is a personal view. How is it an offence? Under which provision of the law?” the bench asked the counsel.

Elated at the judgment, Khusbhoo said, “If you are honest and if you are fighting for justice, then whatever political or money power anybody has, there is a lot to protect the normal citizen and my case has proved it.

“I would like to thank the Supreme Court and all the people and friends who have stood by me all these years. I am feeling great; it has been a lovely morning waking up with the realisation and hearing that all the cases have been quashed.”