Keep adultery illegal to protect marriages: Centre to Supreme Court

Striking down Section 497 of the IPC that punishes only man for extra-martial sexual relations with another man's wife will destroy the institution of marriage, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

This will prove to be detrimental to the intrinsic Indian ethos which gives paramount importance to the sanctity of marriage, it said.

The government's response came on a petition filed by one Joseph Shine who has said the 158-year-old law discriminates against men.

He said: "When sexual intercourse takes place with the consent of both parties, there is no reason to exclude one from the liability."

He also said the colonial-era law on adultery indirectly discriminated against women by presuming they are men's property.