If there is one judgement that has triggered a huge buzz lately, it is the Supreme Court’s striking down of Section 497 which criminalised adultery. Soon after the verdict, memes flooded social media making fun of the order, debates happened everywhere and the judgement became the talk of the whole country. The impact of the order was so much that a woman committed suicide at MGR Nagar in Chennai on Saturday allegedly after her husband wanted to continue his extramarital affair citing that no action can be taken against him as adultery is no more a crime.
And a video has gone viral on WhatsApp and Facebook, which shows a man in Kerala separating a woman, who is said to be a mother of two, from her family following the apex court order. All these things show people have not understood the judgement clearly and are taking stands just based on headlines and memes. One has to understand that the Supreme Court has merely scrapped a British-era regressive law. It has not said adultery is right, or legal.
As being projected by some people, the law will not give adulterers a free run and ruin the sanctity of marriage. The verdict has only stated that two consenting adults having sexual relations outside of marriage cannot be deemed criminal. The judgement also says that if adultery leads to a person’s suicide, the spouse can be booked for abetting suicide. In other words, the verdict did not extend rights to adulterers. It just says that extramarital affairs are not a criminal offence. So, people have to think twice before rolling out memes and comments which have already snatched away a precious life.