NewDelhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that sex with wife aged between 15 and 18 years would be a punishable offence under the Indian Penal Code.
A public interest litigation was filed in the apex court seeking to allow a bride below 18 years of age to file an FIR if she’s forced to have physical relationship. The PIL had demanded that such acts should be treated as rape.
While delivering the judgement, the apex court bench comprising Justice Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta expressed concern over practice of child marriage, saying social justice laws had not been implemented with the spirit they were enacted.
Referring to the issue, the top court said “exceptions in rape law is discriminatory, capricious and arbitrary.”
“The exception in rape law under the IPC is contrary to other statutes, violates bodily integrity of girl child,” said the Supreme Court.
Justice Gupta, who wrote a separate but concurrent verdict, said the age of marriage was 18 in all laws and the exception given in the rape law under the IPC is “capricious, arbitrary and violates the rights of a girl child”.
The apex court said the exception is violative of Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution.
It asked the Centre and the states to take proactive steps to prohibit child marriage across the country.
It voiced concern over thousands of minor girls being married in mass wedding ceremonies on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.
The plea had challenged the validity of an exception clause in the rape law that permits intercourse or sexual act by a man with his wife, not below 15 years.
The court has clarified that the ruling is not in connection with the issue of marital rape.
Bureau Report
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