Elephant killed in Kerala: What punishment may be given?

Decriminalizing Adultery: What is missing?

After perusal of 243-page judgement of the Honorable apex court in Joseph Shine vs. Union of India (2018) which decriminalises the adultery law in India i.e. Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code(hereinafter referred as IPC) 1860 and Section 198(2) of Crpc, 1973, I thought another alternative could have been given along with striking down section 497 of IPC.

Section 497 of IPC is reproduced here as follows: "Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor."

Adultery was a major concern as it led to disputes in the lineage. The history of Adultery law in India in Modern era goes back to the drafting of IPC when the chairman of first law commission vehemently opposed its insertion. But later on, his demand has succumbed to the wishes of other members. Adultery was introduced on the principle of "feme covert" i.e. once a woman gets married she is under the control of her husband, making her the property of the husband. 

Section 497 IPC, was firstly challenged in Yusuf Aziz vs. State of Bombay (1954). The validity of phrase"In such a case wife shall not be punishable as abettor" was only challenged but it was held constitutionally valid under the ambit of Article 15(3) of Indian Constitution.

Again, the validity of provision was challenged in 1985 in Swahmitri Vishnu vs. Union of India and Ors on the ground that the provision only enables husband of the adulterous wife to prosecute but vice-versa was not allowed. Hence being violative of article 14 and 15 of the constitution. But the Honorable Supreme Court held that 'to enact the law' is the exclusive domain of legislature. And after placing reliance on Yusuf Aziz vs. State of Bombay, apex court upheld the validity of section 497 IPC, 1860. Again In 1988, in V. Revathi vs. Union of India and Ors.,  the provision of adultery was upheld.

In Joseph Shine (supra), the Honorable Supreme Court dealt with the following questions:

Whether Section 497 IPC, 1860 suffered from the vice of Article 14? 

The answer is affirmative as while giving the right to one i.e. on one hand protecting the right of a woman to not be prosecuted as an abettor, it takes away the right of another woman i.e. not allowing a woman to file a complaint against her adulterous husband.

Whether section 497 IPC, 1860 violates right of a woman under Article 21? 

Yes, as the only husband of the adulterous woman has the right to file the complaint, and with his consent or connivance, the act does not amount to adultery. This led to the subordination of woman and thus infringing her personal liberty.

Whether Adultery is treated as a criminal offence? 

No, as it is a matter between two individuals, it amounts to infringement of their privacy and also it does not affect society as a whole. 

Whether Adultery still ground of civil action?
yes, Adultery is still a valid ground for Divorce.

Now the questions which remained unanswered are:

Whether decriminalisation of the adultery law increase false allegations of rape, which a woman may put upon the man in order to save the marriage or under pressure of her husband? 

Will the cases of murder increase as the husband being provocative from the act may kill his wife or that man?

Will it increase the cases of suicide for the same reason?

I believe, that there could be a better alternative instead of decriminalization of adultery. Instructions could have been given to the government to make adultery law 'gender neutral' as per the recommendations of the Malimath committee by substituting the words of the provision with “whosoever has sexual intercourse with the spouse of any other person is guilty of adultery.” and till then guidelines could be made for the same as has been done by the Honorable Court in Vishaka vs. State of Rajasthan (1997) and recently, in Shayra Bano vs. Union of India (2017).