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sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman, no party was punishable; while if a married man had sexual intercourse with a married woman other than his wife, the married man's crime was against the husband of that married woman, not against the man's own wife towards whom he had been unfaithful. Adultery was only prosecutable upon the complaint of the aggrieved husband (or in exceptional circumstances by a party whom the husband had entrusted with the care of his wife).
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have more free play than now." As an alternative, it provides that the recommendations of the
Committee on Reforms of Criminal Justice System (2003) be implemented. This committee recommended that the wording of the section be changed to: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with the spouse of any other person is guilty of adultery..." to tackle the problem of gender bias which arises from the reading of the current section.
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sub-section (1), no person other than the husband of the woman shall be deemed to be aggrieved by any offence punishable under section 497 or section 498 of the said Code: Provided that in the absence of the husband, some person who had care of the woman on his behalf at the time when such offence was committed may, with the leave of the Court, make a complaint on his behalf."
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Advocate Jayna
Kothari, executive director of CLPR, represented the intervenor Vimochana. She assailed the provision which categorised adultery as an offence by invoking the fundamental right to privacy, as recognised by the Supreme Court in the Puttaswamy case. She argued that the right to intimate
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Section 497 IPC criminalised adultery by imposing culpability on a man who engages in sexual intercourse with another person's wife. Adultery was punishable with a maximum imprisonment of five years. Women, including consenting parties, were exempted from prosecution. Further, a married woman could
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With regard to prosecution, the law read: "198. Prosecution for offences against marriage.—(1) No Court shall take cognizance of an offence punishable under
Chapter XX of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860) except upon a complaint made by some person aggrieved by the offence. (2) For the purposes of
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The arguments by the party opposing this decriminalisation- the Centre- states that the section "supports, safeguards and protects the institution of marriage... Stability of marriages is not an ideal to be scorned." It further argues that if the petition is allowed, then "adulterous relations will
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Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with
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Section 497 was unconstitutional as the very basis for criminalising adultery was the assumption that a woman is considered as property of the husband and cannot have relations outside of marriage. The same restrictions, however, did not apply in the case of the husband. Section 497 violates the
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with up to five years imprisonment, a fine or both. As such, the concept of adultery targeted the act of sexual intercourse occurring between a married woman and a man other than her husband, in which case the man would be guilty whereas the wife was exempt from punishment. When a married man had
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On accepting this petition, the Court in its initial observations noted that this was not the first petition challenging the section - debates and cases on this have been in motion since 1954, making it important for the Court to decide on this question without much ado. It felt that laws are
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not bring forth a complaint under
Section 497 IPC when her husband engaged in sexual intercourse with an unmarried woman. This was in view of Section 198(2) of CrPC which specified how a complainant can file charges for offenses committed under Sections 497 and 498 IPC.
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In
October 2017, Joseph Shine, a non-resident Keralite, filed public interest litigation under Article 32 of the Constitution. The petition challenged the constitutionality of the offence of adultery under Section 497 of the IPC read with Section 198(2) of the CrPC.
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Because of this problematic interpretation, the
Supreme Court in December 2017 decided to accept the public interest litigation, (PIL) in which it has been prayed that the Court strike down or entirely abolish Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code.
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The Court began to hear the arguments on this petition on 1 August 2018. The Court said that if the party challenging this section can simply prove that it violates
Article 14 of the Constitution of India, then the section will be struck down.
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On 27 September 2018, a 5 Judge Bench of the
Supreme Court unanimously struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code as being violative of Articles 14. 15 & 21 of the Constitution.
321:"Statutory Immunity To Women From Prosecution For adultery - SC Admits Writ Petition Challenging The Vires Of Section 497IPC [Read Petition & Order] | Live Law"
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supposed to be gender neutral. However, in this case, it merely makes the woman a victim and thus "creates a dent on the individual independent identity of the woman."
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Article 15 reads as follows: "The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them."
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imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.
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Article 14 reads as follows: "The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India."
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A five-judge
Constitution bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled on 27 September 2018 to repeal Section 497, thus eliminating it as an offence in India.
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The
Supreme Court called the law unconstitutional because it "treats a husband as the sole master." However it is still a sufficient ground for
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372:"Indian Supreme Court Begins Hearing Petitions Seeking Decriminalization Of Adultery [Section 497 IPC] | Live Law"
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It has been argued that the section violates two articles of the Constitution of India- Article 14 and Article 15.
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on 27 September 2018 as unconstitutional. The law dated from 1860. Under Section 497 of the
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247:"Women Are Not 'Chattel,' Says India's Supreme Court In Striking Down Adultery Law"
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The adultery law, at the time of its constitutional challenge, read as follows:
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association is a facet of privacy that is protected under the Constitution.
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main.sci.gov.in 27 September 2018 Retrieved 8 May 2023
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347:"Counter affidavit Adultery.pdf"
56:as ruled by the Supreme Court.
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400:. BBC News. 27 September 2018
42:consensual sexual intercourse
690:with murder or resulting in
68:Section 497 : Adultery
28:until it was quashed by the
692:persistent vegetative state
297:"The Constitution of India"
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776:(privacy of rape victim)
618:waging war against India
596:Capital offence sections
838:(attempted acid attack)
272:"Adultery Law in India"
153:Child marriage in India
846:unnatural sex offences
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30:Supreme Court of India
919:Marriage law in India
190:on 20 September 2020
608:criminal conspiracy
276:Legal Service India
214:has generic name (
182:Bureau, ABP News.
909:Indian Penal Code
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877:attempted suicide
804:culpable homicide
758:unlawful assembly
447:Indian Penal Code
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680:with murder)
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551:Chapter XVII
531:Chapter XIII
501:Chapter VIII
404:27 September
402:. Retrieved
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382:14 September
380:. Retrieved
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16:Adultery 497
830:acid attack
768:hate speech
670:for ransom)
576:Chapter XXI
571:Chapter XXA
561:Chapter XIX
546:Chapter XVI
536:Chapter XIV
526:Chapter XII
511:Chapter IXA
496:Chapter VII
471:Chapter III
351:Google Docs
212:|last=
122:Dipak Misra
60:Legislation
903:Categories
668:kidnapping
656:(abetting
566:Chapter XX
541:Chapter XV
521:Chapter XI
506:Chapter IX
491:Chapter VI
486:Chapter VA
476:Chapter IV
466:Chapter II
169:References
794:blasphemy
784:obscenity
516:Chapter X
481:Chapter V
461:Chapter I
204:cite news
109:Judgement
887:adultery
748:sedition
644:302, 303
454:Chapters
376:Live Law
325:Live Law
147:See also
38:adultery
22:Adultery
866:Defunct
678:dacoity
658:suicide
281:10 June
251:NPR.org
54:divorce
46:offence
648:murder
628:mutiny
856:fraud
305:8 May
300:(PDF)
836:326B
826:326A
790:295A
774:228A
764:153A
744:124A
688:rape
684:376A
674:364A
664:364A
604:120B
406:2018
384:2018
358:2018
333:2018
307:2023
283:2016
258:2018
216:help
196:2018
883:497
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