The Supreme Court has scrapped Section 497 of IPC that treats adultery as a criminal offence. The Court has ruled that any issues relating to extra-marital relationships in a marriage has to be settled between husband and wife either taking a forgiving attitude or divorce.
Lot of discussions and trolls are happening on this issue but one question that was raised by one of my friends in the media was whether soliciting an extra-marital relationship either directly or through social media would be considered an offence. Although I don't have a legal background, assuming my logic and common sense (quite uncommon!) proves right, I would set out the broader implications of the SC verdict for the benefit of larger section of doubting thomasses and anxious people seeking adventure!
1. Adultery is no longer considered a crime. Here it is assumed that both parties in the extra-marital affair (the different combinations- married man and unmarried woman, married man and married woman, unmarried man and married woman) enter in the relationship out of mutual liking and without any force or coercion. And most importantly, fully aware of the consequences arising out of it. You may call it anything, 'love' or 'nature's call' or whatever. So long as a third person doesn't know about it, everything is fine and provided it brings no new burden to life!
2. The second part is as my media friend asked, a man and woman know each other for a while and one of them wants to send a message across either directly or through social media that he or she needs to get closer!. Fine. Again it's only a nature's call. But either of the two have the right to refusal. If the man or the woman persists with it despite the other person showing no interest or refusing the act, then it is intimidation, harassment or abuse whatever crime you can attribute to it. In some case the male ego can be hurt, they may use the social media or other channels to defame the lady, so naturally it's harassment. Here Section 354A of IPC can be invoked.
3.It is important to note that provisions for providing protection for sexual harassment against women in IPC has not been revoked. Therefore, women continue to enjoy the protection provided by law against harassment in public places, at work or at home.
The Supreme Court has observed that Section 497 of IPC came into force due to the patriarchal nature of our society. A man who engages in an extra-marital affair is seen as machoistic while a woman who engages in it is considered 'immoral'. One doctor friend of mine once asked what is the difference between a prostitute and a woman who indulges in a sexual relationship outside of marriage? There is a huge difference. In the case of the former, she is doing it for money or a livelihood while in the latter it is out of what we have said above- 'love' or 'nature's call'. That same patriarchy principle applies when a suspecting husband starts spying on the spouse's whatsapp and even forcibly snatches away the smart phone to end it all.
Going by the amount of space and time devoted to the three-letter word, sometimes it may be right to say that mankind is more a sexual being than spiritual. A Times of India report of 2 December 2014 stated that 76% of Indian women and 61% men did not think infidelity was a sin based on a survey of over 75000 people.
No doubt man-woman relationships is a very sensitive issue. But the sad part is that we don't seem to have better things to talk about- may be about the origin of the universe as George Bernard Shaw said when people could have more leisure, the wonders of nature, the happiness of children playing or the seas and rivers, the beautiful flowers or the trees that bloom everywhere.
( I invite readers to share their views and opinions on this topic)
