Centre Urges Delayed Hearing on Marital Rape Immunity Pleas

The Centre requested the Supreme Court to delay considering pleas about the legal question of marital rape immunity. The cases, involving significant legal and social implications, challenge IPC and BNS provisions that shield husbands from prosecution for raping their adult wives. The Supreme Court plans to hear the cases soon.

The Centre has urged the Supreme Court to postpone this week's hearing on the contentious issue of whether a husband should be immune from prosecution for raping his adult wife. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made this submission at the end of the day's proceedings before a bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud.

The top law officer emphasized that the marital rape pleas, already listed for a court hearing, should be deferred until next week. The bench, including Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, is currently dealing with other significant cases, including one concerning tree felling in Delhi's ridge area.

The urgent hearing request for the marital rape pleas was echoed recently by senior lawyers Indira Jaising and Karuna Nundy. The Supreme Court had earlier agreed to address these pleas on a legal question but postponed the hearing, initially scheduled for mid-July, to the upcoming weeks. The challenged provisions under the IPC and now BNS offer immunity for husbands in cases of forced intercourse with wives who are not minors.

(With inputs from agencies.)