Adultery law: Adultery is not a crime anymore in India, but it can be grounds for divorce, the Supreme Court said today.
Adultery is not a crime anymore in India, but it can be grounds for divorce, the Supreme Court said today. In past hearings, the Supreme Court had asked the centre how the 158-year-old law preserved the sanctity of marriage when the extramarital affair becomes non-punishable if the woman’s husband stands by her. The government has defended the law, saying adultery must remain a crime so that the sanctity of marriage can be protected, after a petition called for the law to be scrapped as it does not treat men and women equally.
Here’s are the top quotes from today’s verdict on adultery:
- In case of adultery, criminal law expects people to be loyal, which is a command, which gets into the realm of privacy.
- A man having sexual intercourse with a married woman is not a crime.
- Man being the seducer and women being the victim no longer exits. Equality is the governing principle of a system. Husband is not the master of the wife.
- To attach criminality to something happening in the four walls of privacy is wrong. Law cannot distinguish between man and woman when both have equal role.
- Any law which affects individual dignity, equity of women in a civilised society invites the wrath of the Constitution.
- Sexual autonomy of woman cannot be compromised. It’s a result of patriarchal society. It’s her right and there cannot be any condition imposed on her. Chastity is not for woman alone as it is also equally applicable to husband.
- It’s illogical to say sexual act is not an offence if it’s done with his (husband’s) consent.
- Adultery might not be the cause of an unhappy marriage; it could be the result of one.