Conviction U/S. 497 IPC Is Bad In Law: Chhattisgarh High Court Acquits Husband Accused Of Adultery
|The Chhattisgarh High Court set aside the conviction by the Trial Court while stating that Section 497 of the IPC, which criminalised adultery, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 2018.
The Chhattisgarh High Court acquitted a husband charged with adultery against his alleged wife while remarking that the conviction by the Trial Court under Section 497 of the IPC is bad in law.
The Court set aside the conviction by the Trial Court while stating that Section 497 of the IPC, which criminalised adultery, was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018). The Supreme Court had held that the Section violated Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution as it violated principles of equality before law by treating men and women differently, as only men could not be prosecuted for adultery.
A Single Bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Verma remarked that “by closely scrutinizing the facts and circumstances of the case, it is clear that in the present case the husband of the prosecutrix did not file any complaint before the court. Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code is non-cognizable offence and the ingredients of Section 375 of IPC and Section 497 of IPC is entirely different. Trial court has acquitted the appellant under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code however, convicted the appellant under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code without being complaint made by the husband of the Prosecutrix before the competent court/Magistrate.”
Advocate Adil Minhaj appeared for the Appellant, while Deputy Government Advocate Jitendra Shrivastava represented the Respondent.
Brief Facts
The husband had appealed his conviction under Section 497 of the IPC. The Prosecution alleged that the husband had secretly married the prosecutrix, promising her a formal ceremony later. It was alleged that the husband avoided fulfilling this promise and, over five years, made her terminate several pregnancies. Eventually, the prosecutrix discovered that the husband had married someone else.
The Trial Court found the husband not guilty of rape (Section 376 of the IPC) as alleged by the prosecutrix, but guilty of adultery.
Court’s Reasoning
The High Court pointed out, “In the present case, aggrieved party that is the husband of the prosecutrix has not made complaint of adultery before the court, therefore, ingredients of section 497 of the Indian Penal Code has not been made out against the appellant.”
The Court, while distinguishing between adultery and rape, emphasised on the following points of distinction:
- “Adultery can be committed only with a married woman, whose husband is alive, whereas rape can be committed on any woman, married or unmarried, whose husband is alive or dead or a divorced woman.
- In adultery, woman is willing and consenting partner but in rape sexual intercourse is committed by a man against her will or without her free consent.
- Adultery cannot be committed by a husband with his wife, but rape can be committed by a husband in certain circumstances.
- Adultery is an offence against marriage while rape is an offence against the person of a woman.
- In adultery, aggrieved party is the husband, while in rape, victim woman is the party aggrieved.”
The Bench held that “conviction under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code by the trial court to the appellant is bad in law, and hence the appellant is liable to be acquitted from the charge of Section 497 of IPC.”
Consequently, the Court ordered, “Conviction of appellant under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code by the learned Sessions Judge by impugned judgment is hereby set aside. The appellant is acquitted from the charges leveled against him by the trial court for the offence under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code. Thus, the instant appeal is hereby allowed.”
Accordingly, the High Court allowed the Appeal.
Cause Title: Bhaskar Rohi v. State Of Chhattisgarh (Neutral Citation: 2025:CGHC:16304)