New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre on a PIL that sought directions for fixing the age of consent of a wife at 18 years for having sexual relations with her husband. The SC issued the notice over section 375 of the IPC which defines rape. The law states that sexual intercourse by a man with his wife is not rape if the wife is over the age of 15 years.
The apex court observed that this exemption is inconsistent with other laws of the country.
Agreeing to hear the PIL, a bench headed by Justice KS Radhakrishnan sought response from the Centre on the issue. The court passed the order on a petition filed by an NGO, Thought, seeking its direction for amendment of section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code which makes an exception on age of consent of the wife for sexual relations with her husband.
Advocate Vikram Srivastav, appearing for the NGO, submitted that if the age of adulthood has been fixed at 18 years, the same should apply in the case of age of consent of women for sexual intercourse.
With Additional Inputs From PTI
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