Rehan Khan
On 15th July, the Rajasthan Government filed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court, seeking to intervene in a case regarding the constitutional validity of marital rape as an exception under Section 375 of the IPC. The petition from the BJP government cites numerous cases of marital rape in the state as grounds for requesting the opportunity to present its arguments before the apex court.
Rajasthan Government’s petition is in the context of Hrishikesh Sahoo vs State of Karnataka and Others case. In 2017, a woman accused her husband, Mr. Hrishikesh Sahoo, of multiple offenses under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), including rape, cruelty, and threats of harm. He was also charged with abusing their daughter and faced allegations of sexual assault under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (POCSO).
During the trial at the Sessions Court, Mr. Sahoo filed a writ petition at the Karnataka High Court, citing the marital rape exception in the IPC and seeking dismissal of charges against him. However, on February 23, 2022, Justice M. Nagaprasanna rejected the petitioner’s plea. The Court referred to a 2013 report by the Justice J.S. Verma Committee, which recommended removing the marital rape exception, arguing it was regressive and violated equality by subordinating wives to husbands. The High Court stressed that no legal provision should justify societal harm. Subsequently, Mr. Sahoo appealed to the Supreme Court of India, where a 3-Judge Bench, including former Chief Justice N.V. Ramana and Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, temporarily halted the High Court’s decision.
Under the exception given in Section 375 of the IPC, “sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being minor, is not rape”.
Even under the new law; Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), exception 2 to Section 63 (rape) has clarified that “sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under eighteen years of age, is not rape“
Additional Advocate General Shiv Mangal Sharma expressed that the Supreme Court’s decision would affect everyone, and the Rajasthan Government sought to represent the interests of marital rape victims within the state.
Sharma stated, “With this application, our goal is to support the Supreme Court in determining the constitutionality of the marital rape exception and to offer a thorough view on the social, cultural, and economic factors influencing the interpretation of Section 375.”