Offence of Adultery in Army – A view

In the Military, the offence of adultery is a serious violation that is notch below ‘ cowardice ‘ which can be punishable with even death

In 2018, the hon’ble Supreme Court ( SC ) scrapped the adultery as a criminal offence , to which 1.3 million strong army is unhappy . Now the section 497 of IPC stands quashed.

In forces , the offence of ” stealing the affections of brother officer’s wife – an euphemism for adultery – is a serious offence which lead the accused officers dismissed from service.

Since the officers stay away from their families for such a long period of time , there has to be some deterrence to deal with deviant behavior.

Hon’ble SC held in its 2018 ruling that19th century law treats husband as master, was unconstitutional. The, then CJI said ,” The adultery law is arbitrary and it offends the dignity of a woman.

As per Sec.497 , if a man had sex with a wife of married man without ‘ connivance or consent ‘ only men and not women can be prosecuted.

The issue stems back to following sequence of events:

1) In August , 2019. hon’ble Supreme Court quashed General Court Martial of one Colonel found guilty of Adultery.

2) Hon’ble SC quashed this in light of judgment in 2018 . The husband who is a retired officer complained to army, triggering the GCM proceedings.

3) Till now , complaints of extra martial relationships within the Military was handled through the provisions of the Army Act

1. a) Conduct unbecoming of an officer.
2. b) Conduct that disturbed “good order and Military discipline.

Now this judgment severally constraints the Military to act against such erring officials who exploits the family members of officers when they are on duty.

The forces are of the view that ARMY should be out of the ambit of SC’s September 2018 in the interest of families of Soldiers.

For more on topics, you can contact Best/top AFT Chandigarh / Chandimandir Lawyer in Chandigarh , Panchkula , Mohali.

Post written by Advocate Satish Mishra ( 99888-17966 )