Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both. In such case the wife shall not be punishable as an abettor.
IPC Section 497: Simplified Explanation
IPC Section 497 was the section of the Indian Penal Code that dealt with “Adultery.” Historically, this section made it an offence for a man to have sexual intercourse with a married woman without the consent or connivance of her husband. The law did not penalize the married woman but made the man liable for the offence of adultery. However, this section was controversial because it treated the woman as her husband’s property and did not allow her to file a complaint against her husband for similar conduct.
In a landmark judgment in September 2018, the Supreme Court of India decriminalized adultery by striking down IPC Section 497 as unconstitutional. The court ruled that the section violated the right to equality and the right to privacy and dignity of an individual under Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Indian Constitution.
Is IPC Section 497 bailable?
Since IPC Section 497 has been decriminalized and is no longer in force, whether it is bailable is moot.
IPC Section 497 Punishment
With the decriminalization of IPC Section 497, there is no longer any punishment associated with the offence of adultery under this section.
Example of IPC Section 497
Before its decriminalization, a real-life example of IPC Section 497 could involve a case where a man was prosecuted for engaging in sexual relations with a married woman without her husband’s consent. Such cases often involved legal proceedings initiated by the aggrieved husband. However, post-2018, such actions are no longer subject to criminal law, reflecting a shift towards viewing marriage as a private affair between consenting adults without criminal implications for infidelity.
