Supreme Court Postpones Marital Rape Hearing

The Supreme Court announced that it will wait for the central government’s response before setting a date for a hearing on cases related to marital rape. Senior advocate Indira Jaisal, representing a wife in one of these cases, requested that the court schedule the hearing for November, as the parties involved have not yet exchanged their legal documents and the government has only filed a preliminary objection.

The bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and including Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, stated that it will first hear the government’s arguments on Wednesday before deciding on the next steps.

Karuna Nundy, another lawyer representing a petitioner, highlighted the importance of fixing a hearing date to complete all legal pleadings. The court was informed that these cases challenge the constitutionality of laws that protect husbands from being prosecuted for marital rape if their wives are adults.

Under previous Indian law (Section 375 of the IPC), sexual intercourse between married couples where the wife is not a minor was exempt from being classified as rape. This exemption remains in the new legal framework, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which came into effect on July 1, 2024.

The Supreme Court had previously sought the government’s response to these challenges in January 2023. It later issued a notice to the Centre regarding similar objections to the new law.

One of the cases involves a Delhi High Court ruling from May 2022, where judges split on whether the marital rape exemption is constitutional. While one judge argued it discriminates against married women and should be struck down, another defended it as based on an “intelligible differentia.”

The Karnataka High Court has also criticized this exemption, stating it violates the principle of equality before the law (Article 14). These cases aim to challenge the legality of protecting husbands from rape charges under Section 375 IPC and its replacement in the new laws.