Challenges to the Marital Rape Exception | Day 2: CJI Chandrachud-led bench defers hearings
Challenge to the Marital Rape ExceptionJudges: D.Y. Chandrachud CJI, J.B. Pardiwala J, Manoj Misra J
Today, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud with Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra deferred the hearings in the case challenging the marital rape exception. The case will be heard after the Chief’s retirement, in November 2024, after Justice Sanjiv Khanna sits at the helm of the top court.
Organisations and individuals fighting for the equal rights of women have challenged Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 63 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 which criminalise rape. The exceptions to these provisions exempt a man from the offence of rape if it is committed against his wife.
The case was first filed in April 2022. The bench began hearing the case on 17 October 2024.
On the first day of arguments, Senior Advocate Karuna Nundy for the petitioners’, submitted that the marital rape exception was patriarchial and violated the fundamental rights of married women.
“I’ll need a day, your Lordship”
“With the amount of material that is placed, it will take about a day,” Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan for the petitioners said. Senior Advocate Indira Jaising who was scheduled to argue next and close petitioners’ arguments also said that she needed a day.
On the respondents’ side, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Union and Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi for the state of Maharashtra also asked for a day each to conclude their arguments.
With the Chief set to retire on 10 November 2024, he has just seven working days left, given the one-week Diwali break from 28 October to 3 November 2024. The ticking clock will make it highly improbable for the case to reach its conclusion. Therefore, the bench deferred the hearings to be heard by a fresh bench after CJI Chandrachu’s term.
A legacy incomplete?
The hearing today concluded in under 10 minutes. Towards the end, Nundy, attempted to nudge the bench to hear the case. She highlighted that it impacted many women around the country and a finality on the subject was needed. She told the bench that the basis for the arguments in this case was already laid out in previous judgements delivered by CJI Chandrachud himself in cases like Joseph Shine v Union of India (2018). “Your legacy in all of these very important judgements, this is what will bring it home, My Lord,” Nundy urged.
Mehta responded that CJI Chandrachud’s legacy would “live on forever” regardless of this case.
During his time at the Supreme Court, CJI Chandrachud has authored judgments in a plethora of cases highlighting the importance of privacy, choice and individual autonomy. This includes cases where the Supreme Court upheld the fundamental right to privacy, and decriminalised homosexuality and adultery.
Before his retirement, Constitution Benches led by the Chief are expected to deliver five more decisions. These include the nature of private property, the minority status of Aligarh Muslim University, the scope of using a Light Motor Vehicle License, the validity of unilaterally nominating members to an arbitral panel and lastly, whether the rules of a public employment scheme can be changed mid-way.