A man facing trial for committing unnatural offence on his wife on Wednesday moved the Delhi High Court claiming inconsistency in the penal laws for the offence of rape.
The court has sought a response from the Union Ministry of Law and Justice on the petition, which said that while Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code provides for an exception that “sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under 15 years of age, is not rape,” Section 377 the of IPC makes unnatural sex an offence without going into any exceptions like Section 375 of the IPC.
The man said his prosecution under Section 377 of the IPC was contrary to the existing law since his purported act was protected under Section 375 of IPC and therefore, the unsettled position of law infringes upon his rights.
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A Bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal also sought a response from the Delhi government on the plea.
The petition, filed through advocate Amit Kumar, claimed that the existing penal law was not certain as the act of sexual offence punishable under Section 377 of IPC was non-penal under Section 375 if committed by the husband.
The petitioner is facing trial for the alleged offence of unnatural sex on a complaint by his wife.
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The man married a 20-year-old in 2013. She later lodged an FIR against him for alleged offences of rape and unnatural offence. A trial court had discharged him for the alleged offence of rape, but he was put on trial for committing unnatural sex with his wife. The man was granted bail by the High Court in January 2015.