Adultery is not a crime, rules SC; strikes it off IPC
News
- Supreme Court in its judgment has ruled that adultery is not a criminal offence.
Important Facts
- Background about Adultery and Section 497 of the IPC
Problems with Adultery Law
- According to Section 497 of the IPC, a man had the right to initiate criminal proceedings against his wife’s lover but there is no such right for the wife.
- Also, if the sexual relationship of the woman with her lover has the consent of the husband then it would not be considered adultery.
- Section 497 does not bring within its purview an extramarital relationship with an unmarried woman or a widow.
- Supreme Court Judgment:
- A five-judge Constitution Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra held that adultery is not a crime and struck it off the IPC.
- The court held that Section 497 violates Article 14, Article 15 and Article 21 of the constitution.
- Article 14: It ruled that Section 497 is arbitrary as it punishes only men for adultery
- Article 15: Section 497 discriminates on the ground of sex, as it treats wife as husband’s property.
- Article 21: Since Section 497 forces married couples to be loyal with each other it violates privacy.
- The court ruled that adultery could be a moral wrong but criminalizing adultery is too harsh.
- It ruled that dealing with adultery is the private matter of the couple.
- The court observed that there is no data to prove that abolition of adultery would increase infidelity or divorce rate.
- The court ruled that curtailing sexual autonomy of woman is antithetical to the constitution.
- Court also struck down Section 198(2) of the CrPC under which the husband alone could complain against adultery.
- According to SC the provision of Section 497 is a reflection of the social dominance of men prevalent 150 years ago.
- Significance of the verdict
- It will end the gender discrimination in marriage.
- It will give sexual autonomy to women.
- Now adultery can only be ground for civil issues like divorce but it will not be a crime.
- With the decriminalization of adultery India has taken another step towards rights-based social relations, instead of a state-imposed moral order.
- The verdict has brought India into the company of countries that no longer consider adultery an offence.
S.497 has been decriminalised by the SC mainly on the ground that a woman cannot be treated as a chattel or property of the husband. Instead of decriminalising the offence of Adultery, a married woman who has sexual intercourse with a person other than her husband should be subjected to criminal prosecution. As the then S.497 only permitted prosecution of the offender(leaving husband and wife), it may be necessary to revisit the entire law once again with a view to
1.preserve the sanctity of the marriage .
2.Discourage either the husband or wife from entering into adulterous relationships
Law should be balanced in such a manner that both criminal consequences and civil consequences visit the husband and wife who commit adultery
The judgement of the SC in Sep 2017 is seen as a licence to commit adultery without the fear of law