Adultery is no more a crime
The Supreme Court finally struck
down a colonial-era law that made adultery punishable with a jail term and a
fine. A five-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra, delivered
the judgment.
India now no longer consider
adultery an offence, only a ground for divorce. The adultery law was blatantly
gender-discriminatory. “The history of Section 497 reveals that the law on
adultery was for the benefit of the husband, for him to secure ownership over
the sexuality of his wife,” Justice D.Y. Chandrachud wrote. “It was aimed at
preventing the woman from exercising her sexual agency.”
With the decriminalisation of
adultery India has taken another step towards rights-based social relations. It
is good that refreshing the statute books is being left to the judiciary,
without any proactive role of Parliament in amending regressive laws. This is another
landmark judgement by the SC quashing the antediluvian law and enhancing the
stature of the women on par with their male counterparts in terms of constitutional
fundamental rights. But some concerns post this verdict:- 1. The sanctity of
the marriage as an institution. 2. Future of children born out of adultery. 3.
Increase of extramarital affairs post this verdict. 4. Future of arranged
marriages. 5. Moral values of family/marriages system among the youths and
married ones. Overall, a much awaited progressive verdict but we should not
blink at the above concerns in way of moving forward.
The question is why the Judiciary
took seventy years to take cognizance of this colonial era rule and its
absurdity? Anyway, discrimination in law has been struck down. After all said
and done, when it comes to life it all depends upon the individual and their
action. Expressing agency in the form of choice, or exercising equality, the
fact remains that human behaviour is a combination of factors and people can
rationalize it to suit themselves. Choice can be rooted in utter self
centeredness, rights can trample duty and autonomy can be devoid of
responsibility. It may have been correct to allow the rights available to men
under the impugned article to the wife also, so that equality for the two sexes
is brought in like any other sphere.
The verdict may end male hegemony
and exploitation of women to a great extent. The institution has the privilege
of helping the development of a healthy society with high qualities such as
tolerance, mutual trust, Goodwill, apart from imparting the traits of love
affection and caring for fellow beings in the children, the future of the country.
Children born out of adultery may not get the advantages of good parenting
which can guide them towards the good things of human life. Such children can
become ruffians / terrorists owing to antisocial elements getting control of
them in the name of fulfilling their wants which may grow beyond reasonable
proportions. This can pose insurmountable danger to the welfare of the society
and the country at large.
On the whole, this judgment is not
a blow to individual liberty but a boost/ support to individual liberty. Kudos
to Chief Justice Dipak Mishra and his team for delivering an extremely
outstanding judgment. A team of jurists should be formed to
review all the laws closely and advise the government to
delete/amend/streamline and simplify archaic laws. Apart from other things this
will reduce the work load burden of the courts.
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