From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday assured that it will list early the case concerning whether marital rape should be treated as a criminal offence or remain an exception to the criminal offence of rape.
The Court had heard the matter last in January this year, when the Central government informed the Court that it has asked the State governments to give their inputs on whether martial rape should be criminalised.
A related matter was mentioned Wednesday morning before bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and Manoj Misra by Senior Advocate Indira Jaising.
Jaising informed the Court that her plea in the matter was meant to address a child sexual abuse case.The Chief Justice said these petitions will be heard by a 3-judge Bench but only after hearing of the 5-judge Constitution Benches.
CJI Chandrachud, in turn, noted that the Court was yet to resolve the challenge to exception 2 to Section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
This provision effectively provides that charges of rape cannot be attracted against a man who has non-consensual sex (commonly referred to a marital rape) with his wife.
Advocate Karuna Nundy, also appearing for a petitioner, stated that the point in the marital rape case was a very short one and that Jaising would address the Court on the law as it presently stands.
In response, the Court agreed to list the matter.
Earlier, a division bench of the Delhi High Court comprising Justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar had delivered a split verdict in the marital rape case on May 11, 2022.
While Justice Shakdher struck down the provision carving out an exception for marital rape as unconstitutional, Justice Shankar upheld the same.
Meanwhile, Justice M Nagaprasanna of the Karnataka High Court on March 22, 2022, refused to quash a rape charge against a man accused of raping his wife and keeping his wife as a sex slave.
The single-judge said that the institution of marriage cannot be used to confer any special male privilege or a license for unleashing of a “brutal beast” on the wife.
In July 2022, the Supreme Court stayed this Karnataka High Court order, although the Karnataka government supported the High Court’s ruling in December that year.
An appeal against the Delhi High Court’s split verdict is also pending before the Supreme Court.
On a related note, last September, the Court observed that for the purposes of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, marital rape has to be considered as falling within the meaning of ‘rape’ in order to save women from forceful pregnancy.
###
