NEW DELHI: The Central government Thursday urged the Delhi High Court to defer the hearing on pleas to criminalise marital rape while maintaining that it was committed to protecting "the liberty, dignity, and rights of every woman who is the fundamental foundation and pillar of a civilised society."
The Centre, in an affidavit filed before a bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar, said it will provide a time-bound schedule within which it will carry out an effective consultative process on the issue.
The court, which is conducting the marathon proceedings on a daily basis, will now hear the matter on Friday.
The Centre has recently told the high court that it is "re-looking" at its earlier stand on petitions seeking criminalisation of marital rape as that was brought on record in the affidavit filed several years ago.
Earlier in 2017, the Centre had opposed the petitions seeking to criminalise marital rape.
The bench is hearing a batch of petitions to strike down the exemption from prosecution for the offence of rape granted to husbands under the Indian Penal Code.