SC refuses to defer marital rape hearing till Nov; govt to present stand tomorrow

The Supreme Court has refused to defer the hearing on a clutch of petitions challenging the marital rape exception until November, saying it would first hear the Centre's stand on Wednesday before fixing a date for final arguments.

A bench of CJI Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a clutch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of the provision that exempts a husband from prosecution for rape in cases of sexual intercourse or sexual acts with his adult wife.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for a woman petitioner seeking prosecution of her husband for alleged marital rape, urged the bench to fix the matter for hearing in November. She submitted that the Centre had so far filed only a preliminary objection and had not filed a substantive response to the petitions.


Jaising also pointed out that the parties had not exchanged the petitions, making it difficult to ascertain the common questions and differences between the various challenges. The bench, however, declined to immediately fix a date in November. "Matter is listed on Wednesday. Union will appear. We will see what they say and then we will fix a suitable date accordingly," the bench remarked.

Senior advocate Karuna Nundy, also appearing for a petitioner, stressed the importance of fixing a schedule so that the pleadings could be completed and the matter could proceed to final arguments. The petitions challenge the legal protection available to husbands from prosecution for marital rape where the wife is an adult.