Prashant Kadam

#SupremeCourt during marital rape exception case: “You cannot see the Constitution in silos. When it comes to the right under Article 21, it equally impacts the right under Article 20,” Supreme Court observes as it prepares to finally hear challenges to the marital rape exception. The Court says that while examining penal laws, it must factor in mens rea, culpability and interpret the Constitution in a manner that does not “bring surprises upon our citizens”. Key observations: • Marriage cannot result in an “extinction of individual autonomy”, but the Court must reckon with the existing statutory exception before permitting prosecution for rape within marriage. • The Court will examine the Article 20(1) implications of reading down the exception and whether an act expressly excluded from the offence can nevertheless be brought within it through interpretation. • Supreme Court: “The Constitution is as liberal as its leaders make it and as illiberal as its leaders make it.” • Court says it will examine both questions: whether a prosecution can be sustained even if the marital rape exception survives, and separately, whether the exception itself is constitutionally valid. #MaritalRape #SupremeCourtOfIndia