New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it will consider listing for hearing petitions on the complex legal question whether a husband should be exempted from prosecution for the offence of rape if he forces his wife, who is not a minor, to have sexual intercourse.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for one of the petitioners, told a bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that the petitions needed urgent hearing. The bench said it was considering the partially heard matter and would assess the workload it has in the next two days after hearing it.

The court will consider listing the case

The CJI said, 'We will get this idea from the hearing today and tomorrow. We will definitely consider listing (marital rape cases). The bench also comprised Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra.'

Under the exception clause of Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, it was not rape for a man to have sexual intercourse with his wife if the wife was not a minor. The Indian Penal Code has now been repealed and replaced by the Indian Justice Code.

Provisions in the new law too

The new law also provides an exception to Section 63 (rape) that a man having sexual intercourse with his wife is not rape if the wife is not under the age of 18. Earlier, the apex court had agreed to list the petitions for hearing on the legal question on July 16. The CJI had indicated that these cases may be heard on July 18.