New Delhi, 13 January: The Central Government has filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding that the decision of Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) relating to adultery being unconstitutional should not be applied to the Armed Forces.
The Supreme Court has issued a notice on the demand of the Central Government. A three-judge bench headed by Justice RF Nariman referred the five-judge bench to consider the matter further.
In the petition, the government says that there is a provision in the military forces to be sacked for having a relationship with a colleague’s wife.
It is noteworthy that on September 27, 2018, the Supreme Court had declared Section 497 as arbitrary and unconstitutional.
A bench headed by the then Chief Justice Deepak Mishra had said that adultery cannot be a crime only. The court said that if the victim’s husband or wife commits suicide due to adultery and the evidence is found, then the case of abetment to suicide will be done.
The court had said that fornication is related to the institution of marriage and Parliament has enacted a law to protect the rights of women.
