The Supreme Court of India has scheduled a hearing on the legality of the marital rape exception for the second week of January 2023. Senior Advocate CU Singh raised the issue before a bench comprising of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha, stating that the matters needed to be listed urgently.

Senior Advocate CU Singh states, "One is the batch of petitions filed against the split verdict passed by the two-judge bench of the Delhi High Court on the criminalisation of marital rape. That is before a bench of Justice Rastogi. One is the Karnataka matter."

The leading case is an appeal against the Delhi High Court's split decision on the marital rape exception. For context, the Delhi High Court was hearing a slew of petitions challenging an exception to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code, which exempts forceful sexual intercourse between a man and his own wife from the charge of rape. Justice Rajiv Shakdher ruled that the husband's immunity from prosecution for marital rape was unconstitutional. However, Justice C Hari Shankar ruled that Exception 2 to Section 375 did not violate the Constitution because it was based on a discernible difference. The question raised in the appeal for consideration was whether the marital rape exception to the crime of rape under section 375 (2) was unconstitutional and violated articles 14, 15, 19, and 21. The case is scheduled for a hearing in the second week of January 2023.