The petition related to the exception in section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which exempts forcible sexual intercourse by a man with his wife being classified as rape.
The Supreme Court stated that the hearing on petitions regarding the immunity of a husband's marital rape will start on July 13. The case has not been effectively heard since January 2023.
CJI D Y Chandrachud who heads the bench said “hearing is most likely to begin on July 13 for final arguments”. The Court looks up the petitions challenging the exception in section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which exempts forcible sexual intercourse by a man with his wife from the offence of rape. PILs have challenged the validity of the immunity clause on the grounds of discrimination against married women sexually assaulted by their husbands. The Delhi High Court’s verdict in May 2022 is also pending before the Supreme Court for a final word.
In the judgement of 2022, the HC Judges disagreed with each other. One Judge described the clause protecting husbands from prosecution for non-consensual sex with their wives as "morally repugnant”, while the other argued that it did not violate any laws and could continue to exist. The Judges of the High Court disagreed with each other in their 2022 judgement with one of them terming the clause protecting husbands from prosecution for non-consensual sex with their wives as “morally repugnant” where the other said it did not violate any law and could continue to exist.
An appeal before the Supreme Court by a man who’s accused of raping his wife and his trial was approved by the Karnataka high court in March 2022 ruling. The Supreme Court in July 2022 stayed the trail in this case. And Karnataka's BJP government filed an affidavit in November in 2023 supporting the criminal prosecution of the husband and it is said that the IPC permits the prosecution of a man for raping his wife and a husband’s trial under section 375 is valid.
Supreme Court in January 2023 appointed advocates Pooja Dhar and Jaikirti S Jadeja as nodal counsel in the matter to prepare a common compilation and collaborate with the lawyers in the matter to facilitate the proceedings. The Union government also told the court that making marital rape a criminal offence would have “social ramification”. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta states during the proceedings last year that “the subject cannot be looked at only through the prism of legalities and that its social impact must be considered”, and Supreme Court in a judgement related to the medical termination of pregnancy said that “the pregnancy of a married woman due to forcible sex by her husband can be treated as rape under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
The Top Court interfered with exception 2 of section 375 in 2017 but only to the extent that it protects the husbands from prosecution under the rape charge if the wife was not below 15 years. The Supreme Court also held that the wife must not be below 18 for the immunity to operate. At the same time, it clarified that no opinion was being rendered on the issue of marital rape.
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