V REVATHI versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

V REVATHI versus UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Sections 198(1) and 198(2) of CrPC are not unconstitutional or discriminatory against women, as both spouses are equally barred from prosecuting each other for adultery; the legislative scheme targets only the 'outsider' who breaks into the matrimonial unit, and there is no hostile discrimination on the ground of sex.

Parties
Petitioner: V. Revathi; Respondents: Union of India & Ors.
Jurisdiction
India
Judgment Date
25 February 1988
Procedural Posture
Writ Petition (criminal) / Civil Original Jurisdiction, Article 32, Constitutional Challenge
Outcome
Petition dismissed
Legal Topics
Article 14 Equality Before Law, Adultery, Constitutional Validity of Cr PC Section 198
Constitutional Law Criminal Law Article 14 Equality Before Law Adultery Constitutional Validity of Cr PC Section 198

Case Brief

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Parties

V. Revathi

Petitioner

Union of India & Ors.

Respondents

Procedural Posture

Writ Petition (criminal) / Civil Original Jurisdiction, Article 32, Constitutional Challenge

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Sections 198(1) and 198(2) of CrPC amount to hostile discrimination on the ground of sex by denying the wife the right to prosecute her adulterer husband

Ratio Decidendi

Sections 198(1) and 198(2) of CrPC are not unconstitutional or discriminatory against women, as both spouses are equally barred from prosecuting each other for adultery; the legislative scheme targets only the 'outsider' who breaks into the matrimonial unit, and there is no hostile discrimination on the ground of sex.

Court Disposition

Petition dismissed

Orders

  • Petition dismissed