AMN / New Delhi
The Supreme Court in a major ruling on Wednesday said that sexual intercourse with wife below 18 years was a rape.
A two-judge bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Madan Bhimrao Lokur and also comprising Justice Deepak Gupta passed the order after hearing a plea filed by an NGO, Independent Thought.
The NGO, Independent Thought, knocked the doors of the apex court seeking to criminalise sex with wife below 18 years (or minor wife). It is estimated that there are more than 20-million child brides in India.
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However, the age of consent is 18 years. The apex court said the exception in the rape law was contrary to the philosophy of other statutes and violates the bodily integrity of a girl child.
The bench comprising of Justice Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta also expressed concern over the prevalent practice of child marriage in the country and said social justice laws were not implemented with the spirit with which they have been enacted by Parliament.
The bench clarified that it has not dealt with the issue of marital rape as it was not raised before it by respective parties. Justice Gupta, who wrote a separate but concurrent verdict, said the age of marriage was 18 in all laws and the exception given in the rape law under the IPC is capricious, arbitrary and violates the rights of a girl child.
The apex court said the exception is violative of Article 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution. It asked the Centre and the states to take proactive steps to prohibit child marriage across the country. It voiced concern over thousands of minor girls being married in mass wedding ceremonies on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.
