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Synopsis

The Chhattisgarh High Court, in a significant ruling, has declared the virginity test unconstitutional, and violative of Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

The court, presided over by Justice Arvind Kumar Verma, delivered the verdict while dismissing a petitioner husband’s plea seeking a virginity test of his wife who alleged that her husband was impotent.

The court ruled: “the contention of the petitioner to conduct the virginity test of the respondent/wife is declared unconstitutional and in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution which includes the right to dignity of the women…No woman can be forced to conduct her virginity test.”

The court was hearing a maintenance petition filed by the wife on July 2, 2024, under Section 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, in the Family Court, Raigarh. She sought interim maintenance of ₹20,000 per month from her husband, with the case pending at the evidence stage.

The couple was married on April 30, 2023, in accordance with Hindu customs. They resided at the applicant’s family home in Korba district after the wedding. However, the marital relationship quickly deteriorated.

According to the wife, the husband was impotent, which prevented the establishment of a physical relationship. She shared these allegations with her family and refused to cohabitate with her husband. On the other hand, the husband accused the wife of being involved in an illicit relationship with her brother-in-law (जीजा). As part of his defence in the maintenance proceedings, he sought an order from the Family Court for a virginity test of the wife.

The petitioner’s application for virginity test was rejected by the Family Court. In challenge, he approached the High Court contending that the Family Court erred in rejecting his application as the test was necessary to establish that no physical relationship existed between the couple and to substantiate his claim of the wife’s alleged illicit affair.

The High Court, relying on the ruling of the Delhi High Court in Sr. Sephy Vs. CBI and others (2023), reiterated that the virginity test is declared unconstitutional and in violation of Article 21 of the Constitution which includes right to dignity.

The court, affirming that Article 21 is the “heart of fundamental rights,” emphasised that “it is a basic right of a female to be treated with decency and proper dignity and virginity test is a violation of it.”

The court rejected the husband’s plea stating that he could refute the allegations of impotence by undergoing a medical examination himself or presenting other admissible evidence. “But in any case, granting the permission for virginity test of the respondent would be against her fundamental rights, the cardinal principles of natural justice and secret modesty of a female,” the court stated.

The court upheld the Family Court’s order, ruling that “the order impugned is neither illegal nor perverse and there is no judicial error committed by the trial court.”

 

Cause Title: Sandeep Sharma v Anita Sharma [CRR No. 16 of 2025]

Appearance: Advocate Aniket Verma (for the petitioner/ applicant).