Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, following the Supreme Court's Constitution Bench decision in…

In Joseph Shine v. Union of India (2018), a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court struck down Section 497 of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code (which had criminalised adultery unless committed with the consent or connivance of the woman's husband) as unconstitutional and violative of Articles 14, 15, and 21 of the Constitution. Consequently, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 omits adultery as a criminal offence altogether, while voluntary sexual intercourse outside marriage continues to be a civil wrong and a ground for divorce under matrimonial laws. (Note that enticing, taking away, or detaining a married woman with intent that she may have illicit intercourse remains a distinct offence under Section 84 BNS.)