The Supreme Court has warned against using rape charges in the wake of failed consensual relationships. It described such misuse as a profound concern for an overburdened judiciary.
A Supreme Court bench comprising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan quashed criminal proceedings against a Chhattisgarh advocate accused of repeatedly raping a married woman colleague on the false promise of marriage. The court held that not every breach of a promise to marry constitutes rape; the offence applies only if the promise was made from the outset solely to secure sexual consent without any intention to fulfill it.
The complainant, a 33-year-old advocate and married mother with a pending divorce, alleged a physical relationship from September 2022 to January 2025 based on assurances of marriage. She claimed pregnancy and a forced abortion, leading to an FIR in February 2025 under IPC Section 376(2)(n) for repeated rape. The court noted she remained legally married throughout, rendering any marriage promise void under Section 5(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, which prohibits bigamy.
Senior counsel Sanjay R Hegde represented the accused. The bench observed that the complainant, an advocate herself, disclosed her marital status initially, making claims of deception inconsistent. Relying on precedents like Prashant v. State of NCT of Delhi and Samadhan v. State of Maharashtra, it reiterated that "a mere break-up of a relationship between a consenting couple cannot result in the initiation of criminal proceedings."
The judgment emphasized that such misuse trivializes rape, stigmatizes the accused, and burdens the justice system. Courts must distinguish genuine sexual violence from acrimonious consensual relationships turning bitter due to disputes or change of mind.
