India news: Adultery NO LONGER a criminal offence as top court ABOLISHES 158-year-old law
INDIA’S top court has struck down a law that held adultery as a criminal offence punishable by up to five years in prison.
India: Kaleeswaram Raj explains the abolished adultery law
Chief Justice Dipak Misra and the rest of the court took action against the 158-year-old law after calling it unconstitutional.
In their verdict, they stated that "it is time to say husband is not the master" in a move that legal experts say has potential to upturn traditions in deeply-conservative Indian society
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has presided over a string of verdicts in recent weeks.
Chief Justice Misra also led the bench in September to strike down a colonial-era law that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
He is due to retire from the bench next month.
The historic move was made after those who brought the case wanted to have section 497 of the Indian penal code made gender neutral
But the court decided the law must be abolished and ruled that “legal sovereignty of one sex over another is wrong”.
Another judge, Dhananjaya Chandrachud. “The law is gender biased, gives unequal voice to partners.”
Rekha Sharma, the head of India’s National Commission for Women, said: “I welcome this judgment by the supreme court.
“It was an outdated law, which should have been removed long back.
“This is a law from British era. Although the British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it.”
The move faced opposition from the central government who argued that sanctions against adultery would “result in laxity of the marital bonds”.
It had previously seen three legal challenges with the last one in 1988.
It comes just weeks after India saw homosexuality decriminalised.
The next case to be decided upon will be whether women in their menstruating years can be restricted from entering Kerala state’s famous Sabarimala temple.