Criminalisation of marital rape: SC says 3-judge bench will hear matter

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said a three-judge bench would have to hear the matter and it will be listed after the five-judge Constitution benches complete hearing on listed matters.

New Delhi:The Supreme Court Wednesday said a bench comprising three judges will conduct a hearing on a clutch of pleas regarding the criminalisation of marital rape after Constitution benches complete the hearing of listed matters.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and also comprising Justices P S Narasimha and Manoj Misra. The bench told Jaising, “We have to resolve the matters concerning marital rape….”. She contended that her case deals with child sexual abuse.

At this juncture, the Chief Justice said a three-judge bench would have to hear the matter and it will be listed after the five-judge Constitution benches complete hearing on listed matters.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud is hearing as many as 76 petitions to deal with the legal question, whether a person holding a driving licence for the light motor vehicle (LMV) is entitled to legally drive a transport vehicle of a particular weight. The top court is scheduled to begin hearing in the first week of August on a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, which had provided special status to erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state.

In January this year, the top court had sought the Centre's reply on pleas connection with the issue of criminalisation of marital rape and the provision of the Indian Penal Code, which provide protection to a husband against prosecution for forcible sexual intercourse if the wife is an adult.

The Centre had stressed that this issue has social implications as well and said the government will file its reply. One of the pleas in the matter is connected with the Delhi High Court’s split verdict in May 2022, and the appeal has been filed by a woman, one of the petitioners before the HC.