INTRODUCTION

In today’s modern and the advanced world, relationships are getting complex because of so many issues. Spouses do not trust each other, they are happier in their professional lives than that of their personal and so on.

Affair or extra-marital relationships are the new trends, but do we know what the laws applicable are and what can be the consequences of such acts?

Recently, new judgment has been passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the legal status of Section 497 Indian Penal Code which dealt with the offence of Adultery.

Adultery, as defined in the Indian Penal Code, provided punishment to the man who has sexual intercourse with the wife of another man. The major ingredients for establishing the offence of adultery were that they committed it:

• Without the consent of the husband of the married woman other than his own wife.
• A married woman

For committing adultery, the law punished only a man, even where the woman forced the man to have physical relations with her or if the act between them was with the mutual consent of both. It was only the man who became the victim for committing the offence of adultery.

PRESENT STATUS OF ADULTERY

Adultery also termed out to be the Anti-women law. In a bond of marital relationship, both the spouses’ holds an equal amount of responsibilities towards each other and punishing only a man somehow showed the gender biases in these cases. Whereas, in most of the communities, they only treated a woman as an object.

No man would like or ever want that his wife has physical relations with any other man. Whereas, the law punished under section 497, only a man who had consensual intercourse with the wife of another man without the consent of her husband. The section discriminated on the rights of equality of man and woman both.

Adultery, if committed with the consent of the husband, it is against the dignity of a woman.  They treated a woman more of a property of her husband where there was no value of her consent. In a forceful relationship or mostly in the cases of divorce, husbands denied maintaining their wives. To which he states the reason that his wife involved in the acts of adultery. In such cases, women were helpless and had to face the malicious prosecution.

In cases, if the husband had an affair, the wife was not subject to prosecute him. Even the woman he cheated on with was not liable to punishment. Also, it was an absurd law which stated, “it is only the man who was a seducer and not the woman.” A woman was never subject to prosecution under this section.

ADULTERY NOT A CRIME

Finally, a landmark judgment is passed by the Supreme Court on 27 September 2018.  The Hon’ble Supreme Court by striking down the 158-year-old law has again made its pace in the Indian history. Adultery is no more a crime in India.

According to the new judgment, Adultery is no more a crime. The Court stated that “husband is not the master of his wife”. Also, the numbers of prosecution in the cases of adultery were way less. The issue only used to come up in the matters of divorce where the husband was subject to maintain his wife and kids (if any) after the divorce.

CONCLUSION

With this change in the law, there would be surely a positive change in society. Earlier, numerous women did not get justice and had to face terrible situations. Now, there would be a sense of justice for women and fear in men. This law will help in protecting women who earlier had to face the adulterous nature of their husband.

Besides the above facts, adultery is still a valid ground for divorce.  The law earlier focused on the “third person” who broke the relationship between a married couple.

However, most of the people in the country were unaware that there was any such law which punishes a man for having extra-marital affairs.