Centre objects to dropping of adultery as an offence

In  an 11-page affidavit that will come up before a Constitution Bench, the Centre said the provision punishing adultery - Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code - "supports, safeguards and protects the institution of marriage".

The affidavit is to counter a  petition filed by Joseph Shine, represented by advocates Kaleeswaram Raj and Suvidutt M.S. seeks to drop Section 497 as a criminal offence from the statute book.

The Centre states that “diluting adultery law will impact the sanctity of marriages,” and that it supports keeping adultery as a penal offence in India.

In December last year, a three-member bench headed by CJI Dipak Misra, issued a notice to the Centre on the validity of Section 497 of IPC that deals with adultery. The bench stated that the law appears to be prima facie "archaic" and doesn't treat women as equal to men.

The Bench had observed that the provision raised a question mark on social progress, outlook, gender equality and gender sensitivity. 

It was time to bring to the forefront a different view with a focus on the rights of women, Chief Justice Misra had observed.

The Constitution Bench will decide whether the pre-Independence provision of adultery in the Indian Penal Code treats a married woman as her husband's "subordinate" and violates the constitutional concepts of gender equality and sensitivity.

The  Bench may also examine why the offence of adultery ceases the moment it is established that the husband connived or consented to the adulterous act.

Section 497 of the Code mandates that if a man has sexual intercourse with another's wife without the husband's "consent or connivance", he is guilty of the offence of adultery and shall be punished".