New Delhi

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court postponed discussions on multiple petitions regarding the criminalization of marital rape. Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, who led the three-judge panel, expressed concerns that the oral arguments would take considerable time, and a decision may not be reached before his retirement on November 10, when he turns 65.

The bench, which also included Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, acknowledged the timelines suggested by various lawyers and concluded that it would be impossible to finish the hearings in the near future. As a result, they recommended that the issue be revisited by a new bench in four weeks.

In January 2022, the Supreme Court asked the Union government to respond to petitions calling for the criminalization of marital rape, choosing to handle the matter itself rather than letting individual high courts decide. In July 2022, the court stayed a Karnataka High Court ruling that permitted a husband to be tried for allegedly raping his wife. The Delhi High Court had previously shown differing opinions on this issue, with Justice Rajiv Shakdher advocating for the removal of the law exempting husbands from rape charges, while Justice C. Hari Shankar disagreed. Justice Shakdher stated that this exemption violated the constitution.