The Madhya Pradesh High Court set aside Section 377 charges against a husband, ruling that alleged acts within a valid marriage are not prosecutable under current law. Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke quashed the FIR in the Bhind case.
GWALIOR: The Madhya Pradesh High Court (Gwalior) has set aside charges of “unnatural sex” against a husband in a Bhind matter, finding that such accusations arising within a valid marriage cannot be prosecuted under the present legal framework.
While hearing the petition to quash the FIR and charges, Justice Milind Ramesh Phadke noted that even if the complainant’s allegations of forced “unnatural acts” are accepted as true, they relate to conduct within the marital relationship and therefore do not amount to an offence under Section 377 IPC.
The court pointed out that the 2013 amendment broadened the definition of rape in Section 375 IPC to cover various sexual acts, including oral and anal penetration. However, it highlighted the continuing legal exception that “sexual intercourse or sexual acts by a man with his own wife… is not rape.”
Against that legal backdrop, the court concluded that when such acts are alleged between husband and wife, they cannot be prosecuted under Section 377 IPC.
Quashing the charge against the husband, the court ruled,
“Such allegations would not constitute an offence under Section 377 IPC,”
The bench, however, declined to disturb the remaining charges including cruelty for dowry, assault and criminal intimidation observing that those allegations are supported by material on record and must be considered at trial.
The order comes amid a pattern in the Gwalior‑Chambal region where Section 377 IPC is increasingly added in matrimonial disputes alongside dowry and cruelty accusations; officials say the section is often included to strengthen cases and increase legal pressure, prompting courts to repeatedly examine its applicability in marital contexts.
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