The Indian government has opposed petitions in the top court that seek criminalisation of marital rape, saying it would be "excessively harsh". The federal home ministry told the Supreme Court that "a man does not have a fundamental right" to force sex on his wife,

India's government has asked the country's top court not to toughen criminal penalties against marital rape during an ongoing case brought by campaigners seeking to outlaw it.Chronic backlogs in India's criminal justice system mean some cases take decades to reach a resolution,

India's government has insisted that marital rape should be treated more leniently than other rape offences in an ongoing Supreme Court case brought by campaigners seeking to outlaw it.

The government on Thursday informed the Supreme Court that it sees no necessity to criminalize marital rape, arguing that there are already "suitably designed punitive measures" in place. The Centre contended that the issue is primarily “social rather than legal”,

The government acknowledged that while a husband has no “fundamental right” to violate his wife’s consent, invoking the full force of the law as applied to rape cases involving strangers could destabilise the matrimonial framework.