The Delhi High Court has stated that refusing to marry due to a kundali mismatch after establishing physical relations on the promise of marriage can attract charges under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, which criminalises sexual intercourse through deceitful means. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma refused bail to the accused, observing that physical relations were built over time on repeated assurances of marriage, including no impediment from kundali matching. The court noted this is not merely a case of a relationship turning sour.
The Delhi High Court, in an order passed on February 17, 2026, observed that the accused had established physical relations with the woman over a period based on repeated assurances of marriage, stating there was no impediment, including from kundali matching. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma refused to grant bail, noting the accused has been in judicial custody since January 4, 2026. The accused claimed the relationship was consensual and that the parties had known each other for eight years.
The woman lodged her first complaint in November 2025, which was withdrawn following assurances of marriage from the accused and his family. A subsequent refusal to marry on the grounds of non-matching kundalis led to the present FIR being filed in January 2026.
The court stated, “There can be no quarrel with the proposition that criminal law cannot be invoked merely because a relationship fails or marriage does not materialise. However, the present case, at this stage, stands on a different footing.”
“The subsequent refusal to marry on the ground of non-matching of kundalis, despite earlier assurances to the contrary, prima facie raises a question as to the nature and genuineness of the promise extended by the applicant. Such conduct, at this stage, would attract the offence under Section 69 of the BNS.”
The court highlighted the sequence of events, indicating it involved repeated assurances of marriage despite the accused's awareness of his family's insistence on kundali matching.