Adultery - Anti-women And Unconstitutional?

Anti-women and unconstitutional?

- Monika Agarwal

Based on Conversation with Advocate Sumit K Batra, Delhi, high court Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code defines the adultery law in India. Though adultery law has been a subject matter of judicial scrutiny several times the courts have held Section 497 as a valid law. The law has been widely criticised for treating women as property owned by men.

When a petition wherein the constitutional validity of Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code had been challenged, The Supreme Court observed the adultery law as "anti-women" while hearing the petition it had challenged Section 497 for being anti-men and giving leverage to women.

Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code states, "Whoever has sexual congress with an individual whom he is aware of or has reason to believe to be the better half of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual congress not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery."