This Article is From May 11, 2022

Split Verdict On Criminalising Marital Rape: Top Quotes From The Judgment

The Delhi High Court today delivered a split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape with one of the judges favouring striking down the provision, the other holding it was not unconstitutional.

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Delhi High Court today delivered a split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape

New Delhi:
  1. A married woman's right to bring the offending husband to justice needs to be recognised: Justice Rajiv Shakdher.
  2. Deifying women has no meaning if they are not empowered. They are our equal half; some would delightfully say our better half: Justice Rajiv Shakdher.
  3. It would be tragic if a married woman's call for justice is not heard even after 162 years, since the enactment of IPC: Justice Rajiv Shakdher.
  4. To my mind, self-assured and good men have nothing to fear if this change is sustained. If I were to hazard a guess, those amongst us who want the status quo to continue would perhaps want to have the MRE struck down if the victim involved was his/her mother, sister, or daughter: Justice Rajiv Shakdher.
  5. (Exception) advises against unwarranted judicial, or executive, incursions into the privacy of the marital bedroom and, in doing so, cannot, in my view, be regarded as sanctioning an unconstitutional dispensation: Justice Hari Shankar.
  6. The Exception does not say that husbands would be exempted, or excepted, from being prosecuted for rape; it says, rather, that, sexual acts between a husband and wife are not rape. The offence of rape, therefore, does not exist, where the man and woman are married: Justice Hari Shankar.
  7. It is impossible for this Court to grant the reliefs sought by the petitioners, as it would result in the creation of an offence, which is completely proscribed in law: Justice Hari Shankar.
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