‘Like trishanku’: HC rejects govt plea to defer marital rape case, verdict soon

A bench of justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari shankar said the Centre's stand is like a "trishanku", and said that a deferment in the ongoing matters cannot be granted as there is no terminal date for ending the consultations by the Union government.

The Delhi high court on Monday refused to defer the hearing on a batch of pleas seeking to criminalise marital rape, while reserving it's judgment on the petitions.

The high court has now listed the matter for March 2 for directions. (Getty images )

A bench of justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari shankar said the Centre's stand is like a "trishanku", and said that a deferment in the ongoing matters cannot be granted as there is no terminal date for ending the consultations by the Union government.

The high court has now listed the matter for March 2 for directions.

On the earlier date, the high court had granted two weeks to the Centre for holding discussions on demands for criminalising marital rape.

In response, the Centre told court on Monday that it has written to various states and Union Territories (UTs), seeking their opinion on the issue. It added that it is yet to receive a response from them.

Appearing for the Centre, solicitor general (SG) Tushar Mehta said the government is yet to formulate a stand, adding it is neither saying yes nor no because consultations have not been completed.

SG Mehta asked the Delhi high court to defer the matter again.

However, the high court responded that it had already pointed out to Mehta that in an ongoing matter, deferring the hearing, may not be possible, as there is no terminal date for the ending of consultations.

The court also said that since all the parties have already advanced their arguments, it is reserving the order and passing directions on March 2.

Exception 2 of Section 375 Indian Penal Code (IPC) decriminalises marital rape and mandates that sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape.

There has been massive demand from many lawyers, politicians and citizens for criminalising marital rape in India.

However, the Centre has argued that criminalisation will involve a socio-legal impact, adding intimate family relations require a comprehensive approach rather than a strictly legal view to come to a conclusion.