Marital rape: SC to decide validity of laws granting immunity to husbands

The Supreme Court on Thursday said it will decide the constitutional validity of penal provisions in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) which 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. A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra sought views of the petitioners on Centre's contention that making such acts punishable would severely impact the conjugal relationship and cause serious disturbances in the institution of marriage. Senior advocate Karuna Nundy, appearing for one of the petitioners, opened the arguments and referred to the provisions of the IPC and BNS on marital rape. "It is a constitutional question. There are two judgments before us and we have to decide. The core issue is of the constitutional validity (of the penal provisions)," the CJI said. Nundy said the court must strike down a provision, which wa