 bill  no 272 of 2017 the indian penal code (amendment) bill, 2017 by shri jagdambika pal, mp a billfurther to amend the indian penal code, 1860be it enacted by parliament in the sixty-eighth year of the republic of india as follows:—45 of 18602 for section 497 of the indian penal code, 1860, the following section shall be substituted, namely:—substitution of new section for section 497 adultery5"497 whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or hasreason to believe to be spouse of another person, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both" statement  of  objects  and  reasonsthe object of section 497 of indian penal code, 1860, is to preserve the sanctity of the marriage as the society abhors marital infidelity since the offence of adultery can be committed by a man with a married woman only, the wife of a man having sexual intercourse with other unmarried women cannot prosecute either her husband or his adulteress this section does not penalize the sexual intercourse of a married man with an unmarried woman or a widow or even a married woman when her husband consents to it the offence of adultery is, an offence committed against the husband of the wife and not against the wifeit draws a distinction between consent given by a married woman without her husband's consent and a consent given by an unmarried woman thus, there is no doubt then that this section treats a woman like a man's chattelfurther, it is interesting here that the section itself expressly states that the unfaithful wife cannot be punished even as an abettor to the crime thus in case the offence of adultery is committed, the husband cannot prosecute his unfaithful wife but can only prosecute her adultererthe bill, therefore, seeks to amend the indian penal code, 1860 with a view to include the unfaithful spouse and adulterer irrespective of their gender within the ambit of the offence of adulteryhence this billnew delhi;jagdambika  palnovember 27, 2017 annexure extract from the indian penal code, 1860 (45 of 1860)|                                                                                            ||---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|| adultery                                                                                   || 497 whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has           || reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that  || man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence || of adultery, and shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which || may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both in such case the wife shall not be    || punishable as an abettor                                                                   | lok  sabha————— a billfurther to amend the indian penal code, 1860—————(shri jagdambika pal, mp)gmgipmrnd—2681ls(s3)—21-12-2017