New Delhi: The Supreme Court has expressed its concern on “worrying trend” of consensual relationships for prolonged period being criminalised by invoking criminal jurisprudence upon the relationship turning sour.
A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh was hearing a plea filed by a man challenging a Bombay High Court order refusing to quash a rape case against him registered by a woman at Navi Mumbai alleging that that the man had repeatedly sexually exploited her on false promises of marriage.
“It is evident from the large number of cases decided by this court dealing with similar matters as discussed above that there is a worrying trend that consensual relationships going on for prolonged period, upon turning sour, have been sought to be criminalised by invoking criminal jurisprudence,” the bench said while quashing the rape and cheating case against the man.
Apex Court noted that relationship continued for nine long years
The bench, which noted that the relationship continued for nine long years, said that it appears from the fact of the case that it is more of an extra-marital affair without any insistence by the complainant woman for getting married to the appellant (accused) and the fact that the complainant continued to have a physical relationship for a long time without any insistence on marriage would indicate the unlikelihood of any promise made by the appellant for marrying her and it rather indicates that the relationship was a consensual one.
“The longer the duration of the physical relationship between the partners without protest and insistence by the female partner for marriage would be indicative of a consensual relationship rather than a relationship based on false promise of marriage by the male partner and thus, based on misconception of fact,” the bench said.
Criminal liability attached to such false promise would be diluted after such a long passage of time: Apex Court
The bench further said that even if it is assumed that a false promise of marriage was made to the complainant woman initially by the appellant, the fact that the relationship continued for nine long years would render the plea of the complainant that her consent for all these years was under misconception of fact that the appellant would marry her implausible.
“Consequently, the criminal liability attached to such false promise would be diluted after such a long passage of time and in light of the fact that no protest was registered by the complainant during all those years. Such a prolonged continuation of physical relationship without demurral or remonstration by the female partner, in effect takes out the sting of criminal culpability and neutralises it,” the bench said.
The apex court further said that it will be very difficult to assume that the complainant woman, who is otherwise a mature person with two grown up children, was unable to discover the deceitful behaviour of the appellant who continued to have sexual relationship with her for such a long period on the promise of marriage.
There was no vitiation of consent under misconception of fact: Apex Court
“Any such mendacious act of the appellant would have been exposed sooner without having to wait for nine years. The inference one can draw under the circumstances is that there was no such false promise made to the complainant by the appellant of marriage by continuing to have physical relationship so as to bring this act within the province of section 376 IPC and therefore, there was no vitiation of consent under misconception of fact,” the apex court said.
The bench further said that it appears that discontinuance of financial support to the complainant woman, rather than the alleged resiling from the promise to marry by the appellant appears to be the triggering point for making the allegation by the complainant after a long consensual relationship for about nine years.
If criminality is attached to prolonged relationship at a very belated stage, it can lead to serious consequences: Apex Court
“In our view if criminality is to be attached to such prolonged physical relationship at a very belated stage, it can lead to serious consequences. It will open the scope for imputing criminality to such long term relationships after turning sour, as such an allegation can be made even at a belated stage to drag a person in the juggernaut of stringent criminal process. There is always a danger of attributing criminal intent to an otherwise disturbed civil relationship of which the Court must also be mindful,” the apex court said while setting aside the High Court order and quashing the case against the man holding that no prima facie case has been made out about commission of an offence of rape against him.
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