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2 Part 1 Indian J. Integrated Rsch. L. 1 (2022)
Contemplating Adultery as Offence If the Paradox and Gender Biases Are Removed

handle is hein.journals/injloitd2 and id is 3230 raw text is: Indian Journal of Integrated Research in Law CONTEMPLATING ADULTERY AS OFFENCE IF THE PARADOX AND GENDER BIASES ARE REMOVED Shivanshu Kunwar Srivastava, BA LL.B. (Hons) From Faculty of Law, University Of Lucknow, LL.M. (First Year) In Faculty of Law, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Varanasi ABSTRACT The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, in the case of Joseph Shine v. Union of India' rendered a landmark judgment decriminalising the 150 years old statutory provision that declared the commission of the act of adultery as a criminal offence punishable under Section 497 (Part XX) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. The erstwhile provision dealing with adultery was drafted in a highly biased and paradoxical manner, which was contrary to the purpose that it intended to serve. It was against the dignity of both husband and wife. Section 497 prosecuted the adulterous man who committed adultery with another man's wife while an adulterous woman was immune from all criminal liability and could not be prosecuted even as an abettor. This was clearly an unreasonable classification that the judiciary erroneously overlooked for decades. Similarly, the section was also against the dignity of women because it objectified women as their husbands' property since the husband's consent to a third person for sleeping with his wife would not constitute the offence under the said section. In this research paper, the author has discussed the absurdity associated with the erstwhile statutory law on adultery in light of the paradoxical and gender- biased provisions contained therein. The author has also proposed a draft provision as a possible substitute to the provision contained under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, in case the legislature happens to consider re- criminalising adultery in the future by amending the said provision so as to remove the absurdity. KEYWORDS: consensual, decriminalization, criminalization, unconstitutional, gender bias. Page: 1 ' 2018 SCC OnLine SC 1676 Volume II Issue III ISSN: 2583-0538

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