Is adultery still considered a crime in India in 2026?

No. Adultery ceased to be a criminal offence in 2018, when the Supreme Court in Joseph Shine v. Union of India struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code as unconstitutional. The Constitution Bench held that treating a wife as the property of her husband violated her right to dignity and equality under Articles 14, 15 and 21.

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 — which replaced the IPC in 2024 — contains no equivalent penal provision. You cannot send a spouse, or their partner, to jail for the act of adultery, nor can the police register an FIR for it.

Yes. Although adultery is no longer a crime, it remains a strong civil ground for divorce. The applicable provision depends on the law that governed your marriage:

(1) Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains — Section 13(1)(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955;
(2) Inter-faith and civil marriages — Section 27(1)(a) of the Special Marriage Act, 1954;
(3) Christians — Section 10(1) of the Indian Divorce Act, 1869;
(4) Muslims — under personal law (specific grounds available to wives under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939).

Adultery can also support related reliefs such as judicial separation, maintenance and custody.

Direct proof is rarely available, so courts accept circumstantial evidence such as:

(1) Hotel bills, travel records, joint photographs;
(2) Messages, emails or social media interactions showing intimacy;
(3) Eye-witness testimony from friends, neighbours or licensed private investigators;
(4) Outcome of medical or DNA tests where the parentage of a child is in question.

Avoid illegally obtained evidence — secretly recorded calls, hacked WhatsApp accounts or invasive surveillance can backfire and expose you to privacy claims under the DPDPA, 2023 or Section 77 BNS (voyeurism).

Engage a reputable, specialised family lawyer to assess the evidence threshold for your personal law and draft the petition. See our broader guide on how to get a divorce in India.