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Under the former Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (struck down in Joseph Shine v Union of India, 2018, and not re-enacted in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023), could a woman be charged with the…

Question and options

Under the former Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (struck down in Joseph Shine v Union of India, 2018, and not re-enacted in the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023), could a woman be charged with the offence of adultery?
  1. Yes
  2. No
  3. Circumstantially
  4. None of the given options is correct

Answer and explanation

Correct answer: B - No
Under the former s.497 IPC only the man could be prosecuted for adultery; the wife was expressly not punishable even as an abettor. The section was struck down in Joseph Shine (2018), and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (in force from 1 July 2024) contains no offence of adultery. Either way a woman could not be charged, so No.

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