Delhi High Court to deliver marital rape verdict today

The Delhi high court will deliver its verdict on Wednesday on a bunch of petitions seeking to criminalise marital rape.

Exception 2 of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code decriminalises marital rape and mandates that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife is not rape.

A bench of justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar is scheduled to pronounce the judgment at 2.15pm.

On February 21, the court had reserved its judgment after holding marathon hearings on public interest litigations filed in 2015 by non-profit RIT Foundation, All India Democratic Women’s Association and two individuals, which sought to strike down the exception on grounds that it discriminated against married women who were sexually assaulted by their husbands.

The court had at that time refused to give further time to the Union government and termed their stand as Trishanku, a king in Indian mythology who sought to create his own heaven, only to be suspended in limbo halfway.

The court said it would consider the stance given by the Central government in 2017.

In 2017, the Union government had opposed the pleas and said India cannot blindly follow the West and criminalise marital rape as several factors have to be taken into account.

In mid-January 2022, when the hearings resumed, the government informed the court that marital rape cannot be made into a criminal offence until the Centre’s consultation with all stakeholders was complete, paving the way for comprehensive amendments in criminal law, instead of “piecemeal” changes.

On February 7, the court granted two weeks to the Centre to take a consultative stand on the issue.

However, even then, the Centre’s stand remained in limbo, due to which, the court reserved its judgment.