Marital Rape: Delhi HC Reserves Verdict, Centre Refuses To Take Stand

The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved its judgment on a batch of pleas seeking to criminalise marital rape after the Centre reiterated that it couldn't take a stand on this issue without a consultative approach.

The division bench comprising Justices Rajiv Shakder and C Hari Shanker expressed its helplessness over the Centre's lack of a definitive stand and said it had no option but to "close the issue".

The high court pointed out that this issue could be decided in two ways, either through legislative interference or judicial. "If the legislature wants to intervene...we will then obviously consider if there is some change and we will have to see that…But there is a challenge before us and we have to decide either way," Justice Shakder said.

"As of now, the more I think of it, the more I am convinced that you have to close it. We are not the last repository of wisdom. The wisdom may perhaps lie elsewhere. But someone has to take a stand," the high court said. The high court told the Centre that at some point it has to "bite the bullet and take a stand."

The Centre submitted that it had written to Chief Secretaries of all states and even the chairperson of the National Commission of Woman seeking their comments on this issue. However, none of the stakeholders has replied despite the urgency, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said.

During the last hearing on February 7, the high court had given the Centre a last chance and time till today to "take a stand" on the issue.

The Delhi High Court was hearing a batch of pleas that challenged exception 2 to Section 375 of the India Penal Code (IPC) which says: "Sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape."

The ongoing hearing was a resumption of the hearing which was stalled due to the COVID related pandemic. The initial round of arguments was almost over before proceedings came to a halt.

Also Read: Take A Final Stand On The Issue Of Marital Rape: Delhi HC to Centre