Few countries treat adultery as crime: SC

New Delhi : Holding adultery law - Section 497 IPC - unconstitutional, the Supreme Court on Thursday pointed out that global trend indicates that very few nations treat adultery as a crime though most retain adultery for the purposes of divorce laws.

The countries that have done away with the provisions similar to Section 497 of IPC - which now stands struck down - include China, Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Germany, Austria, Ireland, Barbados, Bermuda, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Seychelles.

India on Thursday followed the footsteps of South Korea and Guatemala where the adultery laws making it a criminal offence were struck down by the constitutional courts.

The countries that still hold adultery as a criminal offence include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iran, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines, United Arab Emirates, some states of the US, Algeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt and Morocco.