Marital rape related matters have far-reaching socio-legal implications: Centre

The Centre on Thursday informed Supreme Court that the matters related to marital rape will have very far-reaching socio-legal implications in the country and therefore, needs a comprehensive approach rather than a strictly legal approach.
The submission was made in an affidavit filed in the apex court.

Centre submits that “while exercising such judicial review on such subjects (marital rape), it is to be appreciated that the present question is not only a constitutional question, but essentially a social question on which the Parliament, after being apprised and being aware of all sides of the opinion on the present issue, has taken a position.”
It said while a woman’s consent is not nullified by marriage, the violation of such consent within matrimony warrants different legal treatment than that applied to non-marital relationships.

The government also noted, Parliament intentionally decided to keep the marital rape exception, despite the Justice JS Verma Committee’s 2013 recommendations to remove it after the 2012 Delhi gang rape incident. Parliament had taken into account the complexities surrounding marital consent and aimed to strike a “careful balance” between personal rights and the protection of marriage as a social institution.
The Parliament, after being apprised and being aware of all sides of the opinion on the present issue has decided to retain Exception 2 to Section 375 of IPC in 2013 while amending the said section in the year 2013, Centre informed SC.
The affidavit also expressed concerns about the possible abuse of marital rape laws, cautioning that removing the exception might result in more false accusations and could disrupt the stability of marriages.
The set of pleas are PILs filed against the IPC provision and have challenged the constitutionality of the marital rape exception under Section 375 IPC (rape) on the ground that it discriminates against married women who are sexually assaulted by their husbands.