New Delhi:  The Supreme Court (SC) this morning unanimously struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) that makes adultery a punishable offence for men.

In four separate but concurring judgments, the Five-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court said the 158-year-old law was unconstitutional and fell foul of Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) and Article 14  (Right to equality).

The Apex Court also declared Section 198(1) and 198(2) of the Cr.PC, which allows a husband to bring charges against the man with whom his wife committed adultery, unconstitutional. Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, who pronounced the judgment in concurrence with Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, said while adultery could be a ground for civil issues, including dissolution of marriage, it could not be a criminal offence.

“Adultery can be ground for any civil wrong. There can’t be any social license that destroys the matrimonial home, but adultery should not be a criminal offence,” he said. Stating that a wife was not a chattel of the husband, Misra said, “Any provision of law affecting individual dignity and equality of women invites the wrath of the Constitution. It’s time to say that a husband is not the master of wife. Legal sovereignty of one sex over other sex is wrong.”