Kathmandu, March 28:

The Supreme Court today issued show cause notices to government authorities to give in writing, within 15 days, the reasons for the inclusion of a discriminatory provision on marital rape in the Civil Code 1963.

According to section 3 of the Rape Chapter of the Civil Code 1963, a person can be imprisoned for three to six months if he is convicted of raping his wife. The Civil Code says that a person can be imprisoned for over seven years if he rapes a woman.

A single bench of Justice Bal Ram KC issued the notices to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Cabinet, the Ministry of Law Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and the Parliament Secretariat, calling them to submit written affidavits on the matter in the Supreme Court. The bench issued the notices following today’s initial hearing on a PIL challenging the Section 3 of the Rape Chapter.