NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought Centre’s response in pleas seeking criminalisation of marital rape till February 15, 2023. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala that four months ago, the Centre had invited views of the states on the issue. He also added that the SC’s ruling would not only have legal but also “social ramifications.”
While directing the Centre to file a counter affidavit, the bench posted the pleas for final disposal in March, 2023. The court has sought response from the Centre in pleas against Delhi HC’s split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape by NGOs Rit Foundation, All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) and Khushboo Saifi.
The exception given in Section 375 of the IPC states that sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his adult wife is not rape. Additionally, the bench was also considering a plea preferred by the husband against Karnataka HC’s March 23 ruling in which the HC while rejecting husband’s plea seeking to quash the FIR had said that the charges framed against the husband for allegedly raping his wife did not warrant any interference.
Also in top court
Snub to BJP leader for ‘conversion’ pleas
Reprimanding BJP leader Ashwini Upadhyay for filing multiple pleas on the issue of “forced religious conversion” CJI DY Chandrachud on said, “PIL petitioners think that they don’t have to adhere to rule of pleadings. If you file pleas previously and withdraw those you can’t keep filing pleas for your fancy,” he said. The bench also asked BJP leader to file a formal plea for removal of “objectionable contents”.
3-judge bench to hear ESZ modification case
The SC on Monday referred batch of pleas seeking a relaxation of its directive to declare 1-km eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) around protected forests, national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across the country to three-judge bench. Remarking that it was not possible for a two-judge bench to modify an order passed by the bench of three judges, a bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath directed the Registry to place the matters for CJI directions.
SC to hear Google petition on January 18
The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will hear on January 18 a plea of US tech giant Google against an order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal refusing an interim stay on the competition regulator imposing a `1,337 crore penalty on it. The NCLAT, on January 4, had refused an interim stay on an order of the competition regulator and had asked Google to deposit 10 percent of the amount.