Thread by @barandbench

#Breaking Justice Rajiv Shakdher of Delhi High Court expresses his regret that he was not able to persuade Justice C Hari Shankar to strike down the marital rape exception in IPC.
#DelhiHighCourt #MaritalRape #JusticeRajivShakdher

"He (Justice Hari Shankar), perhaps, hears a beat of a different drummer. I respect that," J Shakdher says in his judgment.
#DelhiHighCourt #MaritalRape #Section375IPC

To the petitioners, J Shakdher says, "it may seem that you plough a lonely furrow today but it will change, if not now, some day."
#MaritalRape #DelhiHighCourt #Section375IPC

Striking down the marital rape exception Justice Shakdher has said that a married woman's right to bring the offending husband to justice needs to be recognized.
"This door needs to be unlocked; the rest can follow. As a society, we have remained somnolent for far too long"

"Deifying women has no meaning if they are not empowered... To my mind, self-assured and good men have nothing to fear if this change is sustained," J Shakdher.
#MaritalRape #DelhiHighCourt #JusticeShakdher

Justice C Hari Shankar however said that the petitioners' case that every act of non-consensual sex by a man with any woman is rape is premised "on a fundamentally erroneous postulate, for which there is no support available."
#DelhiHighCourt #Section375IPC

Justice Hari Shankar has said that case for removal of the marital rape exception has to be pleaded before the legislature and it would be a misadventure for the court to strike down the provisions.
#DelhiHighCourt #Seciton375IPC

"...it is not open to any Court in India to strike down the legislative provision as unconstitutional merely so as to
conform to what, according to the petitioners, may be the international sentiment," J Hari Shankar.
#DelhiHighCourt #MaritalRape #Section375IPC

Though the bench was split on the merits of the case, both J Rajiv Shakdher and J Hari Shankar agreed that the matter should now be decided by the Supreme Court.
#DelhiHighCourt #MaritalRape #Section375IPC

Marital rape exception is "repugnant and illogical", abuse of the married woman's human rights and "simply unable" to withstand even the slightest scrutiny: J Shakdher.

The classification between married and unmarried women in the context of marital rape exception is without doubt unreasonable: J Shakdher.
#DelhiHighCourt #maritalrape

Arguments that a married woman has recourse to other remedies in case of forceful sexual intercourse by husband hedge around the main issue, which is, to
call out the offence of rape for what it: J Shakdher.
#DelhiHighCourt #maritalrape

"Conjugal expectations, though, legitimate during the subsistence of a joyful marriage, cannot be put at par with unbridled access and/or marital privilege claimed by the husband," J Shakdher.

On invasion of private space:
"When an offence of sexual abuse (short of rape) takes place within the confines of a married couple’s private space, the law has unhindered access to the very same space to bring the guilty to justice," J Shakdher.

The attempt to keep away the law even when a woman is subjected to forced sex by her husband is to deny her the agency and autonomy. The distinction between
private and public space has no relevance when rights of the women victim are infringed: J Shakdher.
#maritalrape