‘Can cause instability’: Centre asks top court to criminalise adultery in the armed forces

CENTRE SOUGHT TO CLARIFY IF 2018 JUDGMENT DECRIMINALISING ADULTERY WAS APPLICABLE TO ARMED FORCES

NEW DELHI: The Centre has sought a clarification from the Supreme Court to the effect that the 2018 order decriminalising adultery would apply only to civilians and not defence personnel because not prosecuting soldiers for adultery could cause “instability” in the armed forces.

Maintaining that “honour is the sine quo non of the services,” a plea by the ministry of defence (MOD) asserted that adultery must remain a valid ground to prosecute defence personnel under army laws.

In September 2018, a fivejudge constitution bench struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), declaring it to be unconstitutional and violative of right to equality of women in treating them as “chattel” (an item of property) and inferior to their husbands. Section 497 made adultery an offence only with respect to a man, who has a relationship with wife of someone else.

The wife was considered neither adulterous nor an abettor in law, while the man could be jailed for up to five years. In that case, the Centre defended the law, saying it protected sanctity of marriages.

On Wednesday, Mod’s clarification plea was argued by attorney general KK Venugopal before a bench, headed by Justice

Rohinton F Nariman, where the law officer submitted that the armed forces required a completely different standard of discipline and that, therefore, the Army Act and other pertinent laws must be treated as outside the scope of the 2018 judgment.

Agreeing with the A-G, the bench responded that it was also of the prima facie view that the IPC and the Army Act or other laws governing navy and air force stood on different footings and therefore, even as adultery was no more an offence under the IPC.