Supreme Court to begin final hearing on marital-rape exemption challenges

The Supreme Court is set to begin final hearings in about three weeks on petitions challenging India’s marital-rape exemption, including questions over whether non-consensual sex within marriage can be prosecuted while the exception remains in force.

The court has directed the parties involved in the proceedings to submit their papers before the final hearing. The bench will examine both the scope of prosecution under the existing legal framework and whether the marital-rape exception itself is constitutionally valid.

Questions before the Supreme Court

The petitions challenge the exception in India’s penal law that has been cited in cases involving allegations of non-consensual sex within marriage. The proceedings require the court to consider whether the continued existence of that exception prevents prosecution and whether the provision can withstand constitutional scrutiny.

The Supreme Court’s consideration will therefore cover two related issues: the legal possibility of prosecuting such allegations under the current framework, and the validity of the exception that limits such prosecution. The source material does not indicate that the court has reached a final conclusion on either question.

The case includes challenges connected to a 2022 ruling of the Karnataka High Court. It also includes a challenge related to a split verdict of the Delhi High Court, bringing different judicial considerations concerning the issue before the Supreme Court.

Centre says Parliament should decide

During the proceedings, the Centre told the Supreme Court that Parliament, rather than the judiciary, should decide the issue. That position places the question within a broader dispute over whether changes to the legal treatment of non-consensual sex within marriage should come through legislation or judicial intervention.

The court’s decision to proceed to final hearings means the petitions are moving toward a substantive examination of the legal and constitutional questions. However, no final ruling has been reported in the supplied material, and the timing announced by the court is for the hearings rather than for a judgment.

The parties must first complete the filing of their papers as directed by the bench. Once the final hearings begin, the Supreme Court is expected to consider the challenges to the marital-rape exception, the related questions arising from the Karnataka and Delhi High Court proceedings, and the Centre’s position that Parliament should determine the matter.