The Antiquated Shackles of Adultery

The framework of law needs constant change, and the lack of this change has resulted in an evident gender bias in the law for adultery.

When the master playwright made his popular character, Hamlet, say this he would not have thought that this would aptly describe the position of the law of adultery in future India. The dying voices analyzing and criticizing every aspect of the law have risen again. The insistence of the National commission for women and the report of the Madhav Menon committee have breathed a new lease of life in the dying controversy. The law of adultery as drafted in the Indian penal code has been criticized ever since it’s inception. Its validity both on the constitutional grounds as well as philosophical grounds has been challenged time and again. It is a wonder then that the law stands, unaltered and unperturbed, in the democratic India. Although there is little doubt that the law is flawed, yet there exists some disparity about the proposed remedy. To some the law itself is welcome, but its content is not. They believe that adultery should be treated as a crime but the discrepancies should be amended. To the supporters of Madhav Mennon and the National Commission for Women the law is obsolete in the context of the modern society and does not merit being treated as a crime. Either way the only certainty is that the law must not remain as it is. It is about time that we analyze the law and evaluate both the options and rid ourselves of this nuisance for once and for all.

The Law as it Stands