Marital rape case: CJI Chandrachud postpones hearing by four weeks – here’s why

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on Wednesday postponed the hearing of the marital rape case by four weeks, citing the inability of the bench to finish the case before his retirement, legal news website Live Law reported.

CJI Chandrachud will retire on November 10, 2024, and will likely be succeeded by Justice Sanjiv Khanna. DY Chandrachud formally recommended Justice Khanna for the post. The Union Government has yet to approve the recommendation.

Noting that the Supreme Court bench led by him would not be able to complete the case before his retirement, CJI Chandrachud said that the matter of the marital rape case would be adjourned by four weeks.

The pleas seeking criminalisation of marital rape cases were heard by a Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra. The matter was taken on October 17, and the Senior Advocate, Gopal Sanjaranarayanan, said he would require at least a day to complete his submission. The hearing of the matter was unlikely to be concluded before November 10. Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi (for the State of Maharashtra) and Senior Advocate Indira Jaising (for a respondent-wife) also sought a day to complete their submissions.

Considering the time sought for submission by all sides and the upcoming Diwali vacations, CJI Chandrachud noted that it would be difficult to complete the matter before his retirement and adjourned the case for four weeks.

“In view of the time estimate, we are of the view that it would not be possible to complete the hearings in the foreseeable future,” Live Law quoted the bench's order to adjourn the case till next month.

Marital rape case: What does the law say

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) grant immunity from prosecution to a husband for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sex with him.

Under the exception clause of Section 375 of the IPC, now replaced by the BNS, sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his wife, the wife not being minor, is not rape.