943: Marital Rape Case: What Next After Delhi High Court Split Verdict?

<div>On the long-standing question of criminalising marital rape, the Delhi High Court on 11 May delivered a split verdict in a batch of petitions challenging the exception provided to marital rape in the Indian Penal Code (IPC).<br> <br> </div> <div>Justice Rajiv Shakdher of the two-judge bench held that Exception 2 under Section 375, which says that any sexual acts by a husband with his wife are not rape, is unconstitutional, while Justice C Hari Shankar held that the provision is valid and that there's no ground for the court to strike the exception down.<br> <br> While this section has undergone a series of amendments over the years, emphasising the importance of consent, this pre-colonial exception of marital rape continues to exist even in the 21st century.<br> <br> </div> <div>Essentially, this exception allows marital rights to a husband who can, with legal sanction, exercise his right to consensual or non-consensual sex with his wife.<br> <br> </div> <div>But what happens next, and what does this verdict mean for the conversation on marital rape? And where does the case go from here?<br> <br> </div> <div>To understand the verdict and its significance, I'm joined today by <strong>The Quint</strong>'s Legal Editor Vakasha Sachdev, and Radhika Roy, an advocate based in Delhi and former Associate Editor at LiveLaw.<br> <br> <strong>Host and Producer: </strong>Himmat Shaligram</div> <div> <strong>Editor:</strong> Vakasha Sachdev</div> <div><br> </div> <div> <strong>Music:</strong> Big Bang Fuzz</div> <div><br> </div> <div><strong>Listen to The Big Story podcast on:</strong></div> <div><br> </div> <div>Apple: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=https%3A%2F%2Fapple.co%2F2AYdLIl&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V6aUFo&amp;event=video_description">https://apple.co/2AYdLIl</a> </div> <div>Saavn: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2F2oix78C&amp;redir_token=G9sQMbbppKv-LEFD29gDyTmPMzt8MTU3MTM4MDU5NkAxNTcxMjk0MTk2&amp;v=xkpX1V