 Just a couple of days back, the Supreme Court of India dismissed two review petitions filed against its judgment dated 27 September 2018, which decriminalized adultery by striking down section 497 of the Indian Penal Code. In the last two days, I have received numerous requests from viewers seeking clarity as to the legal implications of adultery in India. Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which has since been declared unconstitutional, provides that any person who has sexual intercourse with a woman, who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man and such sexual intercourse being without the consent or connivance of her husband shall constitute adultery and it shall be punishable with an imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years. In such case, the wife shall not be punishable as an accomplice. So basically adultery is an offense against the husband whose wife was engaged in the sexual intercourse with that violator or that offender under section 497. The Supreme Court by passing a detailed judgment, running into more than 200 pages struck down the 158 year old section 497 of the Indian Penal Code as unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary on several grounds, including that it affected the individual dignity and equality of women by operating on a premise that the husband is the master of wife. One sovereignty or one sex over the other sex is wrong, said the court and that respect for sexual autonomy must be emphasized. Quite ridiculously, section 497 punished a man for having sex with a wife of another man though the sexual act got excused, exempted from punishment if it was done with the consent or connivance of the husband of that woman. The very basis for criminalizing adultery was the assumption that a woman is considered as the property of the husband and cannot have relations outside the marriage. However, the court clarified that adultery will be a ground for divorce. It will continue to be so. It asserted that an act of adultery which leads to the aggrieved spouse suicide, the adulterous partner could be prosecuted for abetment of suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code. Yes, it is decriminalized but it could still be a ground for divorce and abetment of suicide in case of a suicide. So hope I was able to answer all your questions.