Unit 2.1

 1. For how long had adultery been a crime in India?​

158 years

2. How was the crime of adultery defined? ​

'Married women are not a special case for the purpose of prosecution for adultery. They are in any way situated differently than men'

Mr shine said 'Indirectly discriminates against women by holding an erroneous presumption that women are the property of men'

3. Why do you think there is no data for prosecutions under this law? ​

......

4. Summarise who challenged the law and why. ​

Joseph Shine who is a 41 year old Indian business man living in Italy petitioned the Supreme court to strike down the law. His argument was that it discriminated against men by only holding them liable for extra marital relationships, while treating women like objects. In his 45 page petition, Mr Shine liberally quotes from American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson, women rights activist Mary Wollstonecraft and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on gender equality and the rights of women. 5. Summarise what the adultery law said. ​

The law dictated that the woman could not be punished as an abettor. Instead, the man was considered to be a seducer. It also did not allow women to fie a complaint against an adulterous husband. A man accused of adultery could be sent to a prison for a maximum of five years, made to pay a fine, or both. Although there is no information on actual convictions under the law Kaleeswaram Raj a lawyer for the petitioner, said the adultery law was 'often misused' by husbands during matrimonial disputes such as divorce, or civil cases relating to wives receiving maintenance. 6. Summarise what the judges said. ​

All five supreme court judges hearing the case said the law was archaic, arbitary and unconstitutional. 'Husband is not the masterof wife. Women should be treated with equality along with men' Chief Justice Misra said.

Judge Rohinton Nariman said that 'ancient notions of man being perpertrator and woman being victim no longer hold good'

Justice DY Chandrachud said the law 'perpetates subordinate status of women, denies dignity, sexual autonomy, is based on gende stereotypes'.

He said the law sought to 'control sexuality of woman (and) hits the autonomy and dignity of woman'

7. List other places where adultery is a crime.​

Its illegal in 21 American states, including New York and although surveys show that while most Americans disapprove of adultery, they don't think of it as a crime.

Adultery is prohibited in Sharia pr Islamic law, so its a criminal offence in a Islamic countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Somalia.

More than 60 counties around the world had done away with laws that made adultery a crime, according to Indian lawyer Kaleeswaram Raj.

8. What other challenges have there been to the law and why were they not successful?​

In 1954 the aw was first challenged by a petitioner asking why women cannot be punished for the offence, and that such 'exemption was discriminatory'

The supreme court rejected the plea.

Since then, the top court has rejected similar pleas, including the constitutional validity of the law at least twice - 1985 and 1988. 'The stability of marriage is not an ideal to be scorned' a judge said in 1985.

Compare crime and deviance - 

Crime occurs when a law is broken. The law is clear, has usually been set down in writing and is enforced by the police and the judiciary system. When someone breaks the law by, for example, by breaking into someones house or stealing a car, they may end up paying a fine or going to jail.

Deviance occurs when someone breaks an accepted code of behaviour. Deviant behaviour is not necessarily illegal and the code that has been broken is usually an unwritten code that everyone understands. \it would be deviant for example to turn up at a funeral in bright red suit or to eat fish and chips in a school assembly. People would usually regard it as anti social or abnormal behaviour.

A married woman had approached the court, demanding the right to file a complaint of adultery against her husband's unmarried lover. The court, rather patronisingly, described the plea as a "crusade by a woman against a woman".

It said the law was about punishing the "outsider" who "breaks into the matrimonial home" and "violates its sanctity".

Two different panels on law reforms in 1971 and 2003 recommended that women should also be prosecuted for the offence.

In 2011, the top court, hearing another plea, said the law was facing criticism for "showing a strong gender bias, it makes the position of a married woman almost as a property of her husband".