NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will decide the constitutional validity of penal provisions in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which grant immunity from prosecution to a husband for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sex with him.A three-judge bench of the apex court, led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, sought views of the petitioners on Centre’s submission that making such acts punishable would severely impact the conjugal relationship and cause serious disturbances in the institution of marriage.Senior advocate Karuna Nundy, appearing for one of the petitioners, submitted the provisions of the IPC and BNS on marital rape.The Central government, in its affidavit filed in the apex court on October 3, had opposed the batch of pleas against the criminalisation of marital rape, on the ground that there are already “suitably designed punitive measures” in place in the sensitive issue. “We see no necessity to criminalize marital rape, as there are already suitably designed punitive measures in place,” the Union of India (UOI) had told the apex court.It said that the issue is primarily social rather than legal. Opposing the batch of pleas, the UOI said, “Criminalising marital rape would have significant implications for society. The jurisdiction to criminalise such acts (marital rape) does not lie with the Supreme Court but rather with the legislature.”
Source link
