New Delhi [India], September 16 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Centre and others on a plea against the Delhi High Court's split verdict on an issue relating to criminalising marital rape matter.

New Delhi [India], May 11 (ANI): The two-judge bench of Delhi High Court on Wednesday delivered spilt judgement on a batch of petitions seeking the criminalisation of marital rape.

New Delhi [India], February 21 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Monday reserved order on various pleas seeking criminalization of marital rape.

New Delhi Jan 30 PTI The Centre is likely to inform the Delhi High Court on Monday whether it wishes to withdraw its earlier affidavit in which it had submitted that marital rape cannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon which may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing husbandsA bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar on January 28 had asked the Centres counsel to take instructions on whether it wants to withdraw its 2017 affidavitThe bench which has been conducting marathon hearings on a batch of petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape will also hear rejoinder submissions on behalf of petitioners on MondayAdvocate Karuna Nundy representing petitioner NGOs RIT Foundation and All India Democratic Womens Association has sought a clarification as to whether she shall address the written submissions and affidavits filed by the central government so far or they are withdrawing itThis assumes significance as the Centre in its affidavit filed in August 2017 had said the Supreme Court and various high courts have already observed the rising misuse of Section 498A harassment caused to a married woman by her husband and in-laws of the Indian Penal Code IPCIt had further said that marital rape has not been defined in any statue or law and while the offence of rape is defined under section 375 IPC defining marital rape would call for a broad based consensus of the societyRegarding the petitioners submission that other countries mostly western have criminalised marital rape the Centre had said it does not necessarily mean India should also follow them blindlyThis country has its own unique problems due to various factors like literacy lack of financial empowerment of the majority of females mindset of the society vast diversity poverty etc and these should be considered carefully before criminalising marital rape it had saidHowever in January Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the high court that it was considering a constructive approach to the issue and has sought suggestions from several stakeholders and authorities on comprehensive amendments to the criminal law He had said criminalisation of marital rape involves family issues as well as the dignity of a woman and cannot be looked at from a microscopic angle and sought some time to respond with the governments standThe bench on January 24 granted 10 days to the Centre to come back with its stand on the issueThe court which has been hearing the pleas on a daily basis since January 10 has concluded hearing the submissions of petitioners the Delhi government and some NGOs which have been opposing the pleasIt was hearing PILs filed by NGOs RIT Foundation All India Democratic Womens Association a man and a woman seeking striking down of the exception granted to husbands under the Indian rape lawUnder the exception given in Section 375 of the IPC sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife the wife not being under 15 years of age is not rapeThe petitioners had said that marital rape was the biggest form of sexual violence against women and the Delhi government had said that this act was already covered as a crime of cruelty under IPCThe petitioner NGOs have challenged the Constitutionality of section 375 IPC on grounds that it discriminated against married women being sexually assaulted by their husbandsNGO Men Welfare Trust MWT which is opposing the batch of petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape had argued that sexual intercourse between a husband and wife cannot be treated on a par with that in non-marital relationships as the issue of consent cannot be divorced from the context of a marriageIt had submitted that the Domestic Violence Act was specifically promulgated for recognising spouse sexual violence PTI SKV SKV DV DV

New Delhi Jan 24 PTI Senior advocate Rebecca John on Monday told the Delhi High Court that she has been receiving hate mails asking her to step down from the position of amicus curiae in petitions seeking the criminalisation of marital rape as she already has an opinion on the issueThe senior lawyer who contendedthat the marital rape exception was not constitutional said that the marital rape exception would be tested on the anvil of its constitutionality and an individuals opinion was not relevantTo all those who asked me to recuse from the matter because I have an opinion on the subject Ive been receiving a lot of hate mail Ultimately the challenge is only to be tested on the anvil of constitutionality If it is constitutionally sound the exception remains If it is unconstitutional it goes It doesnt matter what views we hold on the subject she saidIf having a view was a ground for recusal then everyone should recuse from every case Every intelligent person has a view on everything remarked Justice C Hari Shankar who is part of the division bench headed by Justice Rajiv ShakdherThe bench is hearing PILs filed by NGOs RIT Foundation All India Democratic Womens Association a man and a woman seeking striking down of the exception granted to husbands under the Indian rape lawThe senior lawyer argued before the court that forced intercourse with the wife violated her right to bodily integrity and sexual decisional autonomy as she concluded her submissions She had earlier argued that there is no right but only an expectation of conjugal relations with wife in a marriage and the same also cannot lead to the husband having forced relations with herShe had also said that unlike several offences under the Indian Penal Code the offence of rape was gendered having consent of a woman as one of the ingredients and that the Justice JS Verma Committee report on amendments to criminal law had also recommended the deletion of the marital rape exceptionThe petitioners have challenged the constitutionality of the marital rape exception under section 375 IPC rape on the ground that it discriminated against married women who are sexually assaulted by their husbands PTI ADS RKS RKS

New Delhi [India], January 18 (ANI): Senior Advocate Rajshekhar Rao, who is amicus curiae in the matter relating to criminalisation of marital rape, on Tuesday said the perception that law may be misused and open floodgate of litigations, cannot be the ground to deny the right of legal remedies to a wife, who believes that she was raped by her husband.

New Delhi Jan 18 PTI Apprehensions of misuse and protection of the institution of marriage cannot be a ground to sustain the marital rape exception in the Indian Penal Code IPC the Delhi High Court was told on TuesdaySenior advocate Rajshekhar Rao who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae in a batch of petitions to criminalise marital rape said that there was always a possibility of misuse of criminal offences and had the object of the legislation been to protect the institution of marriage wives would not have been given the power to prosecute husbands for any offence including lessor sexual offencesThe amicus told the bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar that the court cannot be a mute spectator and the objection that Parliament will take care of the marital rape exception because it enacted it cannot be acceptedThe senior advocate emphasised that it is for the court to assess if the exception withstands the test of Articles 14 equality and 21 right to life of the Constitution especially giventhe law protecting minor wives in case of forceful intercourse by husband I do not believe that it is possible today for anyone to say that there is any justifiable reason in treating the status of marriage between two parties as being sufficient to warrant denying the wife the ability to prosecute her husband for the offence of rape Rao saidIf there is a possibility of misuse then section 376 rape of IPC can be misused against random strangers Section 498A cruelty of IPC as your lordships have taken note that perhaps there is misuse but your lordships have found a way to temper he addedThe amicus also submitted that the offence of rape under the Indian Penal Code recognised consent of a woman and the entire act is viewed from the perspective of a woman who has the right to privacy and bodily integrityThe Supreme Court has recognised the right of the woman to say no but the effect of the statute is that the consent of the wife has been rendered irrelevant he said The amicus also relied on Supreme Court decisions to contend that constitutional morality ought to trump societal moralityIt is time that the law tells the wife that marzi hai aapki aakhir var hai aapka It is your choice as after all it is your husband the amicus saidAdditional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma appearing for the Centre told the court that an informed consultation process to examine the issue of criminalising marital rape has been fast-trackedOn January 17 the court had asked the Centre to clarify its in-principle position on the issue of criminalisingmaritalrapeafter the government sought time to formulate and place its considered standThe Centre on January 13 had told the high court that it was considering a constructive approach to the issueand has sought suggestions from several stakeholders and authorities on comprehensive amendments to the criminal lawThe bench is hearing PILs filed by NGOs RIT Foundation All India Democratic Womens Association a man and a woman seeking striking down of the exception granted to husbands under the IndianrapelawThe amicus curiae had earlier submitted that a married woman could not be denied the right to prosecute her husband if she believed that she wasrapedand in case of denial of a conjugal relationship the remedy before the spouse is to file a plea for restitution and not force himself upon herThe central government in its earlier affidavit filed in the case has said thatmaritalrapecannot be made a criminal offence as it could become a phenomenon that may destabilise the institution of marriage and an easy tool for harassing the husbandsThe Delhi government has told the court thatmaritalrapewas already covered as a crime of cruelty under IPCThe petitioners have challenged the constitutionality of the maritalrapeexception under section 375 IPC rape on the ground that it discriminated against married women who are sexually assaulted by their husbandsHearing on the case would continue on January 19 PTI ADS RKS RKS

New Delhi [India], January 14 (ANI): While stressing on criminalising marital rape, Amicus Curiae on Friday argued before Delhi High Court that when a husband forces himself on his wife, definitely he is not engaging in lovemaking.

New Delhi [India], August 21 (ANI): The Delhi High Court on Saturday granted an ex-parte ad-interim injunction to Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd, popularly known as 'Amul' which had filed a trademark infringement suit against a company which it alleged was using a misleading mark for selling its kitchenware and utensils.