Adultery no more a crime; husband is not the master of his wife: Supreme Court

News Network
September 27, 2018

New Delhi, Sept 27: In a historic judgement, the Supreme Court of India on Thursday struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code that made adultery a criminal offence.

A five-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra was unanimous in its judgement that held Section 497 as unconstitutional. While holding that adultery is manifestly arbitrary, the court said the act can be a ground for divorce and a person will have civil remedies for it.

The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said, "We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with the prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional".

Reading out his part of the judgement, CJI Misra, who retires early next month, said mere adultery cannot be a crime, unless it attracts the scope of Section 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

Adultery law verdict - Highlights

“Equality is the governing principle of a system. Husband is not the master of the wife,” the CJI said, adding “the magnificent beauty of the democracy is I, you and we”.

The Chief Justice noted that an unhappy marriage might not be a result of adultery but vice versa. He pointed out that adultery is not a criminal offence in countries like China, Japan and Australia.

Justice Indu Malhotra described Section 497 as “a clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution”. There is no justification for the continuation of Section 497 of IPC, she concurred.

Justice Chandrachud, on his part, said Section 497 is denial of substance of equality as it imposes “a condition on the sexuality of women by making adultery as an offence.” He held the law as a “relic of the past”.

Justice RF Nariman, meanwhile, termed Section 497 dealing with adultery as an archaic law. He concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, describing the penal provision under the law as violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women.

Section 497 of the IPC read: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years or with fine or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor."

Comments

sam
 - 
Thursday, 27 Sep 2018

Ohhh....whats going on in india under name of democracy....

Ramprasad
 - 
Thursday, 27 Sep 2018

Strange. SC promoting adultery

Unknown
 - 
Thursday, 27 Sep 2018

Soon rape will be legalised.. 

Kumar
 - 
Thursday, 27 Sep 2018

No need of marriages and SC should legalise pornography. Should start pornography industry (just like other film industry) in India like US. 

Danish
 - 
Thursday, 27 Sep 2018

Rubbish. What is the point in marriage

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News Network
August 6,2020

Chennai, Aug 5: Karnataka on Wednesday crossed the 1.5 lakh mark in respect of COVID-19 cases and Kerala was on the verge of 30,000 while Andhra Pradesh witnessed a five- digit daily caseload after a lull. 

Tamil Nadu saw a small jump in its daily cases as compared to Tuesday while Telangana and union territory Puducherry reported their respective record single-day spikes. 

The five states and the union territory reported a combined 24,415 fresh confirmed coronavirus cases and 316 fatalities on Wednesday. 

A Puducherry Minister tested positive for the deadly virus while an opposition AINRC legislator who contracted the coronavirus earlier was discharged after being cured of it. 

In Karnataka, the coronavirus cases stood at 1,51,449 with the addition of 5,619 fresh cases while 100 deaths were reported, pushing the total fatalities to 2,804, the health department said.

According to a health bulletin, 74,679 persons have been discharged so far, leaving 73,958 active cases. Andhra Pradesh''s COVID-19 surge continued on Wednesday too, with 10,128 cases reported afresh after easing a little in the last four days. 

The overall tally rose to 1,86,461 on Wednesday. The state had last reported its five-figure daily tally on July 31 when it was 10,376. 

The state also saw a record number of 77 coronavirus deaths in a day, pushing the toll to 1,681, the latest bulletin said. 

In the last 24 hours, 8,729 patients had also recovered from the infection and there were 80,426 active cases. 

As many as 1,04,354 patients have been cured and discharged so far. Kerala was on the verge of 30,000 cases, as its tally stood at 29,145 with the addition of 1,195 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.

The toll from the virus so far climbed to 94 with seven more deaths. Thiruvananthapuram continued to top the districts in infections with 274 cases on Wednesday, of whom 248 had been infected through contact. 

Malappuram (167), Kasaragod (128), Ernakulam (120) and Alappuzha (108) reported over 100 cases. As many as 112 patients died of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, the highest reported in a single day so far, taking the toll to 4,461 on Wednesday while 5,175 more people tested positive, propelling the case count to 2.73 lakh.

Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases with 6,031 people getting discharged from various hospitals, taking the total cured to 2,14,815 as the active cases dropped to 54,184, a government bulletin said. 

In Telangana, 2,012 new cases emerged while 13 related fatalities were reported, taking the total infection tally in the state to 70,958. Out of the new cases, 532 were from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), followed by Medchal-Malkajgiri 198 and Rangareddy 188, a state government bulletin said on Wednesday, providing data as of 8 PM on August 4. 

The total number of people who recovered from the infectious disease touched 50,814, while 19,568 were under treatment.

The COVID-19 fatality rate in the state was 0.81 per cent, while it was 2.10 per cent at the national level, it said. The recovery rate was 71.6 per cent in the state, while it was 66.31 per cent in the country, it added. 

Puducherry clocked its worst single-day spike of 286 infections, recording seven deaths, even as the overall tally of cases went up to 4,432. 

The deaths during the 24 hours in the Union Territory took the toll to 65 so far since the outbreak of the virus, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao told a virtual press conference. 

His cabinet colleague M Kandasamy and his son reported positive for the virus and were admitted to JIPMER.

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News Network
May 20,2020

Mangaluru, May 20: The Third Vande Bharat Mission flight carrying 63 repatriates from Muscat landed at Mangaluru International Airport at 8.35 pm on Wednesday. It was piloted by Mangalurean captain Michael Saldanha.

More than half of the passengers from Muscat alighted in Bengaluru where the flight landed first. Remaining 63 passengers came to Mangaluru. 

After landing, all the passengers were given health kits, food and mobile SIMs, and arrangements were made to change their currency at the airport. 

A health department team screened each passenger, after which emigration formalities were completed. Their throat swab samples will be tested for Covid-19 on Thursday.

Union fertiliser minister D V Sadananda Gowda tweeted on Wednesday that the next Vande Bharat Mission flight is scheduled on Friday from Doha to Mangaluru. The flight will land at Mangaluru at 9.55 pm. 

The third repatriation flight from Dubai to Mangaluru is scheduled on Saturday. It will first land at Bengaluru and later fly to Mangaluru. However, there are no flights from Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to Mangaluru.

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News Network
January 18,2020

Mangaluru, Jan 18: Congress leader Siddaramaiah targeted Union Home Minister Amit Shah soon after he arrived in Bengaluru on Saturday, demanding his answers on various questions pertaining to the state.

In a slew of tweets under the #AnswerMadiShah banner, Siddaramaiah raised issues ranging from the August 2019 floods to the recent police shootout in Mangaluru that killed two people during an anti-CAA protest.

On December 19, Jaleel (45) and Nausheen (24) were killed after the police opened fire during a protest against the CAA.

“Two innocent victims were killed in Mangaluru in what public opinion says that it is a fake encounter. You are the Home Minister of the country. Don't you think adequate investigation has to take place when people cry foul about the incident?” Siddaramaiah asked.

He further asked: “Mr Amit Shah, before investing time to brainwash people to accept your divisive policies, why don't you visit flood-affected areas again and assess if the Central government funds  are sufficient or not?”

The Congress leader pointed out that Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa had claimed that Karnataka suffered losses of over Rs 35,000 crore due to the floods. “But your aid is just Rs 1,870 crore. When are you planning to give the remaining? Will there be any funds left after the implementation of CAA, NPR & NRC?” he added.

The former chief minister brought up the Mahadayi river water sharing dispute. It may be recalled that Shah, in the run-up to the Karnataka Assembly elections in 2018, had promised a resolution to the dispute within six months if BJP was voted to power in the state.

“Mr. Amit Shah, your colleagues give contradictory statements on the initiation of Mahadayi project. Why is there a change in stance after elections? What is your stand on the issue,” Siddaramaiah asked.

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