The Supreme Court on Wednesday, Aug 1, has struck down an appeal to make adultery a gender-neutral crime. Siding with the Centre, the apex court said that it won't make adultery a crime for women, but only men could be charged under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code.
While the court mulled whether to strike down the law, the government argued that any attempt to dilute the law would be "detrimental to marriages". The hearing comes after a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed by Joseph Shine, which argued that the law should punish both the man and the woman for adultery.
Under Section 497, a man found having sexual intercourse with the wife of another man, can be imprisoned for up to five years, or be fined or both. The wife cannot be punished under the law, and is treated as a victim rather than a perpetrator. The law goes on to say that a woman is a property of the man. The PIL went on to argue that the law becomes irrelevant if the husband consented.
The Union Home Ministry argued that the section was enacted to act as a safeguard for the institution of marriage, and diluting it would be detrimental to the matrimonial bond. "Striking down Section 497 of the IPC and Section 198(2) of the Criminal Procedure Code will prove to be detrimental to the intrinsic Indian ethos which gives paramount importance to the institution and sanctity of marriage," it said.
In 2003, the Malimath Committee's report on reforms in the criminal justice system recommended that Section 497 be made gender-neutral, but it was never adopted. The government argued that the law cannot be changed "keeping in mind the unique structure and culture of Indian society."
