Adultery Law

The Supreme Court bench held that the law was archaic, arbitrary, and paternalistic and infringed upon a woman's autonomy, dignity, and privacy

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) Bill which is proposed to replace the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) does away with two contentious provisions on unnatural sex and adultery that were diluted and struck down respectively by the Supreme Court in 2018. Under the IPC, Section 377 says "whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal, shall be punished with [imprisonment for life], or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine". On September 6, 2018, a five-judge bench unanimously decriminalised a part of Section 377. However, the provision still stood in the statute book to deal with unnatural sexual offences against minors, against their consent and bestiality. In the new BNS Bill, there is no provision on "unnatural sex". On September 27, 2018, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously struck off from the statute books Section 497 of IPC which

The plea was made in an interim application filed through lawyer Sachin Sharma on behalf of the Ministry of Defence

The Supreme Court issued notice on the Centre's plea that a 2018 apex court judgment to decriminalise adultery

The apex court had last year decriminalised homosexuality and adultery

Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both

A five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in holding Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, dealing with the offence of adultery, as unconstitutional and struck down the penal provision

The Supreme Court verdict declaring that adultery is not a crime received was widely welcomed Thursday with several lawyers and activists saying it was an antiquated colonial era law that treated women as properties of their husbands. A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women. Senior Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan termed the verdict a fine judgement that did away with an "antiquated" law. "Another fine judgement by the SC striking down the antiquated law in Sec 497 of Penal code, which treats women as property of husbands & criminalises adultery (only of man who sleeps with someone's wife). Adultery can be ground for divorce but not criminal," Bhushan said on Twitter. Congress MP and president of women's wing of the party Sushmita Dev

Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity

"Adultery can be ground for civil issues including dissolution of marriage but it cannot be a criminal offence," the apex court said

When will we stop hearing these homilies about the 'sanctity of marriage'?

The bench said it would see whether the provision can stand the test of the right to equality on grounds like 'discretion and manifest arbitrariness'

The Centre had favoured retention of penal law on adultery, saying that it is a public wrong which causes mental and physical injury to the spouse, children and the family

The bench also questioned the law on various counts including that an extra-marital affair becomes non-punishable if the woman's husband stands by her adulterous relationship with another married pers

Section 497 of the IPC, punishes only the married man who establishes a sexual relationship with a married woman, without the consent of her husband, but not a woman.

The court gave the Central government four weeks time to respond