New Delhi, Aug 19: The Supreme Court has quashed the rape charges levelled by a woman against a man, saying she had a consensual relationship with him that continued prior to her marriage with another man, during the subsistence of her marriage, and even after the divorce.
A bench of Justice DY Chnadrachud and AS Bopanna passed the verdict on the plea by the man who challenged the Allahabad High Court order refusing to quash the charges and the charge sheet filed against him.
The bench said taking the allegations in the complaint as they stand, it is impossible to find in the FIR or the charge sheet, the essential ingredients of an offence under Section 376 IPC (rape).
“We, accordingly, allow the appeal and set aside the impugned judgement and order of the High Court dated October 5, 2018, in an application under section 482 of CrPC.. The application under Section 482 of CrPC shall accordingly stand allowed”, the bench said, while quashing the case lodged against the man and the order dated May 24, 2018, of the additional chief judicial magistrate taking cognisance of the charge sheet against him.
The bench said that in the present case, the issue which had to be addressed by the High Court was whether, assuming all the allegations in the charge sheet are correct as they stand, an offence punishable under Section 376 IPC was made out. “Admittedly, the appellant and the second respondent were in a consensual relationship from 2013 until December 2017. They are both educated adults. The second respondent, during the course of this period, got married on June 12, 2014, to someone else. The marriage ended in a decree of divorce by mutual consent on September 17, 2017. The allegations of the second respondent indicate that her relationship with the appellant continued prior to her marriage, during the subsistence of the marriage, and after the grant of divorce by mutual consent”, it said.
Justice Chandrachud, who penned down the verdict, said that the crucial issue which was to be considered is whether the allegations indicate that the appellant (man against whom rape charges were levelled) had given a promise to the woman to marry, which at the inception was false and based on which the second respondent (woman) was induced into a sexual relationship.
The bench said that the HC has merely observed that the dispute raises a question of fact that cannot be considered in an application under Section 482 of CrPC. (PTI)
