HC seeks govt reply on rape law

he Delhi High Court on Friday raised questions on the `conflicting' laws dealing with rape under which a man who has raped his wife was treated leniently even as others were handed out stringent punishments. A three-judge Bench comprising Justice Vikramjit Sen, Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Mukul Mudgal, heard a petition filed by the father of an underaged married girl seeking striking down of the sub-sections of Section 375 and 376. He asked the government to justify its stand on the matter as these clauses do not consider rape of a woman by her husband a crime. During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General A S Chandhiok stood by the Union of India's reply and said there was no conflict with the law. In its reply, the government had contended that the law commission of India had already examined the matter in its 172nd report and recommended for exhaustive changes in the rape laws. He also said that once the woman is married, it cannot be connected to rape. The court then asked the ASG to justify his stand on the fact that the consensual age for an unmarried girl is 16 years while it is one year less in case of a married woman. "There is a mystery in it,'' the court said. Petitioner's counsel Arvind Jain contended, "How can the law give a licence to the husband to have sex with his wife without her consent? Worldwide, it is an offence to have sex with your wife without her consent.'' Jain said the law provides immunity against a rape charge to husbands of underaged girls between 15 and 18 even as the consensual age for having sex for unmarried women is 16. ASG Chandhiok said he will examine the matter and explain on the next hearing fixed for September 18.

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