WITH the Delhi High Court recently delivering a split verdict on a bunch of pleas seeking criminalisation of marital rape in the country, the debate on the issue has once again gained momentum. The matter has now reached the top court.
Justice Rajiv Shakdher, who headed the division bench dealing with the issue, struck down as unconstitutional Exception 2 to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, for being violative of Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(a) and 21 of the Constitution. On the other hand, Justice C Hari Shankar rejected the plea to criminalise marital rape on the ground that the provision does not violate Article 14, but is rather based on an intelligible differentia.
The provision granting immunity to the husband from unwilling sexual intercourse with his spouse is enshrined under Exception 2 to S.375 (known as Marital Rape Exception or MRE), according to which sexual intercourse by a man with his wife, the wife not bein under 18 years, is not rape. The exception was carved out in order to favour the conjugal rights of the husband as reflected in the initial draft of the penal code framed by Lord Thomas B Macaulay in 1837. It was based on the common law principle enshrined in the Doctrine of Coverture and Implied Consent, as per which the legal rights of a woman were subsumed by her husband after marriage and by entering into marriage, a wife was considered to have given irrevocable consent to participation in sexual acts with her husband.
The genesis of marital rape exception is rooted in the doctrine expounded by Sir Matthew Hale, according to which a husband can never be held guilty of raping his lawful wife, for by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract, the wife hath given herself up in this kind unto her husband which she cannot retract.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 30, 2022 من India Legal.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة May 30, 2022 من India Legal.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
PIL, Difficult To Swallow?
In a recent ruling, the Bombay High Court lamented the increasing number of frivolous public interest litigations being filed in courts and echoed the sentiments of the Supreme Court that such litigations are the bane of the judicial system. Is there any way to restrict their misuse?
Till Infertility Do Us Part...
The Calcutta High Court slammed a husband for initiating divorce proceedings due to his wife's infertility and asked him to be a pillar of support for her. Courts have often taken an empathetic view in such matters
IS THAT LEGAL?
Ignorance of law is no excuse. Here are answers to frequently asked queries regarding matters that affect us on a day-to-day basis
The Big Lie
In America, The Big Lie is an idiom used by Donald Trump's opponents and the media to describe his constant gripe about election fraud. Now, it seems more suited to another Republican, Congressman George Santos (right), who has been facing growing calls to resign after he admitted fabricating parts of his resume and biography since his election in New York last year.
Flying into the Sunset
Over 50 years since the first and original jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, took to the skies and revolutionized air travel, the last of the legendary aircraft (right) was delivered to a freight charter company, bringing down the curtain on one of aviation's most successful products.
Star Crossed
Actor and producer Alec Baldwin is a Hollywood legend, having starred in a range of movies, award winning TV sitcoms, and theatre. He was most recently seen in Mission Impossible Fallout, which is an apt description of his current situation.
Walkouts in the UK
An estimated half a million workers have gone on strike, shutting down thousands of schools, public transport and border disruption. It is the biggest day of industrial action for more than a decade.
Myanmar's Misery
Two years after the military coup ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the brutal crackdown by the junta on so-called \"insurgents\" and civilian protesters has reached a new level with the use of air strikes, a new and deadly tactic in the ongoing civil war.
AMERICA'S ANGST
From messy, divisive politics to a series of mass shootings, and now black officers brutally beating another black man to death as seen in bodycam videos, America's domestic convulsions are cause for serious introspection
JUSTICE LEAGUE
There are few judicial appointment procedures in the world that are completely bereft of the overarching presence of either the executive or the legislature, or both. In the end, the judge is left with all the powers vested in him/her by the constitution to uphold the rule of law, within an atmosphere of external influences
