New Delhi, Sept. 9 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it would list for final hearing after three weeks a batch of petitions pertaining to the contentious issue of marital rape.
The apex court is seized of petitions raising the vexed legal question of whether a husband should enjoy immunity from prosecution for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sex. Under the exception clause of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, now repealed and replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being minor, is not rape.
Even under the new law, exception 2 to section 63 (rape) says that "sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape".
The batch of pleas concerning the issue came up for hearing before a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench that counter affidavit filed earlier by the Centre in the lead case may be treated as reply in other petitions as well.
"List the matter for final hearing after three weeks," the bench said, indicating that the matter would be heard on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
"We will notify the date," the CJI said.
During the hearing, the bench observed that it would examine the aspects, including whether a prosecution can be sustained if the marital rape exception survives, and whether the exception itself was constitutionally valid.
On September 7, senior advocate Indira Jaising had mentioned before the bench one of the petitions related to the prosecution of a husband for marital rape.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.