Clarify stand on marital rape criminalisation: Delhi HC tells Centre

The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Centre to clarify its position in principle on the issue of criminalising marital rape after the government sought time to formulate and place its ldquoconsidered standrdquoJustice Rajiv Shakdher who is heading the bench dealing with a batch of petitions challenging the legality of the marital rape exception in the Indian Penal Code IPC said that the Centre has to say ldquoyes or nordquo as in issues such as the present one deliberation does not endldquoIn a matter like this they Centre have to in principle say yes or no because if they dont however much they may deliberate it is not going to come to an endrdquo the judge saidSolicitor General Tushar Mehta said that it will not be appropriate to place before the court a ldquoless discussed and consulted standrdquo and time was needed to undertake the process of consultationldquoI dont mind that consultation but they have to take a decision which way they are goinghellip there are some matters for whatever reasons I think the court ultimately decides one way or the other and thats how it gets resolved You take your timerdquo Justice Shakdher observedldquoYes and no is the end product of consultationrdquo responded the solicitor general who also submitted that ldquonothing imminent was going to happen within a couple of weeksrdquoldquoWe have to formulate our stand and place our considered stand for your lordship and considering that this a 2015 matter if your lordship can grant us a reasonable time This might need a little consultation etcrdquo the solicitor general saidThe bench which also comprised Justice C Hari Shankar said that it would continue to hear other lawyers appearing in the case which would give time to the CentreldquoYou come back We will decide how much time to give you thenrdquo the bench told the solicitor general The Centre on January 13 had told the high court that it was considering a ldquoconstructive approachrdquo to the issue of criminalising marital rape and has sought suggestions from several stakeholders and authorities on comprehensive amendments to the criminal lawCentral government standing counsel Monika Arora had told the bench that the Centre was undertaking a comprehensive task of amending the criminal law which includes section 375 rape of the IPCIn its additional affidavit filed by the Under Secretary in Ministry of Home Affairs the Centre had asserted that it is ldquoalready seized of the matterrdquo and that the marital rape exception could not be struck down only at the instance of the petitioners as the principles of natural justice required a larger hearing of all stakeholders The bench is hearing PILs filed by NGOs RIT Foundation All India Democratic Womens Association a man and a woman seeking striking down of the exception granted to husbands under the Indian rape lawJustice Shankar said that there should be a ldquodispassionaterdquo attitude in the case and that the issue of criminalising marital rape should prima facie be viewed from the perspective of the ldquoactrdquo and not of a married or unmarried womanThe judge reiterated that a married relationship entailed the expectation of intercourse which was legally and socially recognisedSenior advocate Rajshekhar Rao who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae submitted that there was no reason to preserve the marital rape exceptionThe amicus argued that a married cannot be denied the right to prosecute her husband if she believed that she was raped and in case of denial of a conjugal relationship the remedy before the spouse is to file a plea for restitution and ldquonot force himself upon herrdquoHe had earlier said that the foundation of section 375 rape of the IPC was the lack of consent and there was no reason to give lessor protection against nonconsensual intercourse to a married womanHe had thus argued that the marital rape exception in law was arbitrary and violated Article 14 and Article 21 of the ConstitutionThe central government in its earlier affidavit filed in the case has said that marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon that may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbandsThe Delhi government has told the court that marital rape was already covered as a crime of cruelty under IPCThe petitioners have challenged the constitutionality of the marital rape exception under section 375 IPC on the ground that it discriminated against married women who are sexually assaulted by their husbandsThe hearing in the case will continue on January 18This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever