The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Centre regarding the pleas seeking the criminalization of marital rape.
After the controversial split verdict delivered by the Delhi High Court regarding the pleas filed seeking the criminalization of marital rape, the Supreme Court on Friday sought a response from the central government in the same case.
A bench of Justices Ajay Rastogi and B V Nagarathna issued notice to the Union government and said it will hear the petitions in February 2023. The Centre is expected to deliver its response regarding the pleas at the next hearing.
This comes months after the Delhi High Court delivered a split verdict regarding the criminalization of marital rape, with both the judges on the HC bench disagreeing with each other regarding whether there should be a law against marital rape.
On May 11, one of the judges of the Delhi HC favoured striking down the exception in the law that grants protection to husbands from being prosecuted for non-consensual sexual intercourse with their wives and the other refused to hold it unconstitutional.
However, both the judges had concurred with each other for granting the certificate of leave to appeal to the Supreme Court in the matter as it involves substantial questions of law that require a decision from the apex court, as per PTI reports.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher, who headed the division bench of the high court, had favoured striking down the marital rape exception and said it would be tragic if a married woman's call for justice is not heard even after 162 years since the enactment of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
According to the current laws in India, marital rape is not considered an offence. As per the exception given in section 375 of the IPC, sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being minor, is not rape.
Several PILs had been filed by NGOs RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women's Association, and a couple seeking the criminalization of marital rape, after which the Delhi High Court delivered its split verdict, which led to the deferment of the case to the Supreme Court.
(With PTI inputs)
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