SC Dismisses Review Petitions Against Judgment Decriminalizing Adultery [Read Order]

The Supreme Court has dismissed two review petitions filed against its judgment which decriminalized adultery by striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code.

An organisation named All Religious Affinity Movement had filed one of the review petitions against the judgment. 

"We have carefully gone through the Review Petitions and the connected papers filed therewith. We do not find any ground, whatsoever, to entertain the same.", said the bench headed by the Chief Justice of India SA Bobde while dismissing the Review Petitions. 

Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code punished a married man for having sex with wife of another man. However, the sexual act was exempted from punishment if it is performed with the consent or connivance of the husband of the other woman. Also, the provision exempts the wife from punishment, and states that wife should not be even treated as an abettor. 

The bench comprising of the then CJI Dipak Misra, AM Khanwilkar, RF Nariman, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, had held that the penal provision violated a woman's right to dignity, resulting in infringement of Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It was also observed that the provision treated women as chattel, and has chauvinistic undertones.

Recently, the Constitutional Court of Taiwan had ruled that the provisions of Criminal Law criminalizing Adultery are unconstitutional. It said that the provisions directly restricts the people's sexual autonomy, and also interferes with the privacy of the people.

Live Law reports on the 'Adultery' judgment

'Husband Is Not The Master Of Wife', SC Strikes Down 158 Year Old Adultery Law Under Section 497 IPC [Read Judgment]

There Cannot Be Patriarchal Monarchy Over Daughter Or Husband's Monarchy Over Wife: CJI Misra In Adultery Judgment [Read Judgment]

Patriarchy & Paternalism Underpinnings Of Section 497 IPC : Justice Chandrachud In Adultery Judgment [ Read Judgment]

Justice Chandrachud Does It Again, Overrules His Father's 33 Year Old Judgment On Adultery Law [Read Judgment]

Section 497 Was Never Intended To Preserve 'Sanctity Of Marriage'; It Demeans Or Degrades The Status Of A Woman By Likening Her To A Chattel: Justice RF Nariman [Read Judgment]

Adulterous Woman Can't Be Treated As Victim And The Man, Seducer: Justice Indu Malhotra on Striking Down S.497IPC

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