Challenge to Adultery: SC to pronounce verdict on legality of Section 497 IPC tomorrow

The Supreme Court is expected to render its verdict on the petition challenging Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which lays down the law related to adultery, tomorrow..The petition seeking the repeal of Section 497 IPC had initially came up before the Supreme Court in December 2017. It was filed by one Joseph Shine, through Advocates Kaleeswaram Raj and Suvidutt MS..As it stands, Section 497 penalises men who are found engaging in adultery, although women are immune from such punishment. Further, if the husband of the woman gives his consent for the wife to have sex with another man, no offence lies..The law identifies the married man as the victim. Further, it does not give any right to a woman to prosecute her husband should he be in an adulterous relationship. In this backdrop, the petition prompted the Court to revisit whether the Section was liable to be struck down, inter alia, for being violative of gender equality..In January this year, a three-Judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra referred the case to a Constitution Bench. While doing so, an observation was also made that the law was archaic and looked at women as objects or ‘chattel’ owned by their husbands. These concepts needed to be revisited in a progressive society, the Court had opined..The three-day hearing before the Constitution Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, along with Justices Rohinton Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra commenced on August 1. Before this Bench, the petitioners submitted that while adultery should remain as a valid ground to seek divorce, it should cease to be a criminal offence, considering the act is consensual in nature..The position of the Government of India was made clear in July this year, when it filed its counter-affidavit in the case. The Centre is of the view that adultery should be retained as an offence to protect the “sanctity of marriage” in India..The Court, however, appeared to disagree with this submission. The Bench has observed that making adultery a criminal offence only for the men involved in the act went against Article 14 of the Constitution. Moreover, the Court found it absurd that under the present law, an adulterous relationship would cease to become a criminal offence if the consent of the woman’s husband is obtained..Before the hearings drew to a close, the Court had clarified that the question before it was not limited to making adultery a gender neutral provision, but that there were larger questions involved such as whether the law violates Article 14 and whether adultery needed to be a criminal offence at all..The final hearing in the case took place on August 8, on which date the Court reserved its judgment.