Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) penalises a man and not a married woman for an affair by treating her as a victim and not as an abettor of the offence. However, according to the law, if the husband of the woman gives his consent for the wife to have sexual intercourse with another man, no offence has been committed, reported IANS.

The Section reads, “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery."

A man convicted of adultery can face a jail term of five years, or fine, or both if he is found guilty of the offence.