Allahabad High Court gave a big decision on love relationships, ‘Marriage is not the destination of every love story’

New Delhi: Allahabad High Court has given a very important and far-reaching decision regarding consensual relationships and marriage promises. During the hearing of a case, the court said in clear words that it is not at all necessary that the outcome of every love relationship be marriage. There can be many reasons like lack of coordination, difference of opinion or change of priorities, due to which relationships end. The court stressed that ending a relationship is not a criminal matter and the law cannot be used to criminalize it.

breaking up is not a crime

This decision was given by the single bench of Justice Vivek Kumar Singh while accepting the petition of accused Sanjay Saroj alias Sanjay Kumar in a case related to Colonelganj police station of Prayagraj. The court completely canceled the entire proceedings of the trial against the accused under rape (section 376) and other criminal sections going on in the lower court.

Adults need to understand the consequences

In its 34-page detailed decision, the High Court made serious comments regarding educated and adult youth. The court said that long-term consensual physical relationship between two adults cannot be considered rape merely because the promise of marriage was not fulfilled later. According to the court, if an educated and intelligent woman knows well the consequences of her decisions, then it cannot be said that her consent was taken under any deception or illusion. The court said that such cases need to be looked at with utmost sensitivity. In this, the choice of both the persons and their personal freedom should be fully respected, and not be viewed directly from the prism of a crime.

FIR was lodged to create pressure

According to the background of the case, the complainant woman, originally from Pratapgarh, had come to Prayagraj in the year 2014 to prepare for competitive examinations. There her distant relative Sanjay helped her in living and studying, after which a love affair developed between the two. In the year 2019, the woman alleged that the young man made physical relations with her by falsely promising marriage, assaulted her and also blackmailed her by making objectionable videos. After connecting the links of the case, the court found a very shocking fact. After the FIR was registered, the victim married the accused youth. On this, the court accepted that this FIR was lodged purely for the purpose of pressurizing the young man for marriage and out of resentment.

Abuse of judicial process: High Court

After reviewing the entire case, the High Court found that the relationship between the two was completely based on mutual consent, hence prima facie no crime of rape is made out. The court categorized this case as ‘rarest of rare’ cases, where continuation of criminal proceedings would not only be a waste of time but would also be a gross abuse of the judicial process. The court completely dismissed the case and gave great relief to the accused and made it clear that breaking of love relationship does not fall under the category of crime under law.