‘Worrying trend’: Supreme Court flags criminalising long-term consensual relationships upon turning sour

“It is evident from the ample fig of cases decided by this tribunal dealing with akin matters arsenic discussed supra that determination is simply a worrying inclination that consensual relationships going connected for prolonged periods, upon turning sour, person been sought to beryllium criminalised by invoking transgression jurisprudence,” the tribunal said.

Writing for the bench, Justice Singh said, “If criminality is to beryllium attached to specified prolonged carnal narration astatine a precise belated stage, it tin pb to superior consequences. It volition unfastened the scope for imputing criminality to specified agelong word relationships aft turning sour, arsenic specified an allegation tin beryllium made adjacent astatine a belated signifier to resistance a idiosyncratic successful the juggernaut of stringent transgression process. There is ever a information of attributing transgression intent to an different disturbed civilian narration of which the tribunal indispensable besides beryllium mindful.”

The appellant had approached the SC aft the Bombay High Court refused to quash the rape FIR against him.

Appearing for him, Advocate Mrunal Dattatraya Buva submitted that the appellant and the complainant were successful a narration since they met for the archetypal clip successful 2008, until 2017. She said it would beryllium inconceivable that helium would unit himself upon the ailment for truthful galore years without determination being immoderate protestation oregon ailment from her and that the allegation of rape was concocted lone aft helium refused to supply immoderate further fiscal assistance to her oregon succumb to her request of marrying her.

Agreeing, the SC said “if a antheral is accused of having intersexual narration by making a mendacious committedness of matrimony and if helium is to beryllium held criminally liable, immoderate specified carnal narration indispensable beryllium traceable straight to the mendacious committedness made and not qualified by different circumstances oregon consideration. A pistillate whitethorn person reasons to person a carnal narration different than the committedness of matrimony made by the man, specified arsenic idiosyncratic liking for the antheral spouse without insisting upon ceremonial marital ties. Thus, successful a concern wherever a carnal narration is maintained for a prolonged play knowingly by the woman, it cannot beryllium said with certainty that the said carnal narration was purely due to the fact that of the alleged committedness made by the appellant to wed her.”

The judgement said that “in the contiguous case, adjacent assuming that the appellant had made the committedness since 2008 erstwhile they met for the archetypal time, the information that they remained unmarried for a agelong play till 2017 without determination being immoderate protestation oregon objection by the complainant, does not bespeak the volition astatine the archetypal signifier itself to marque the committedness falsely to wed the complainant. Making an allegation of non-fulfilment of committedness to wed without undue hold by the promisee would, connected the different hand, beryllium an indicator of a mendacious committedness being made from the archetypal stage. In the contiguous case, what is not successful quality is that the carnal narration betwixt the appellant and the complainant continued for a agelong play of astir a decennary and arsenic specified it is hard to infer that the appellant had made a mendacious committedness since the archetypal signifier and continued to marque mendacious promises to wed her connected the ground of which she besides continued to person carnal narration with him.”

The tribunal said that “the behaviour of the complainant intelligibly shows that she is simply a mature idiosyncratic intelligibly susceptible of knowing the consequences of her acts and she was afloat alert of the benignant of illicit narration she was maintaining with a joined person” and “was afloat alert that the appellant was already joined and had 2 wives, though 1 of them was not keeping well”.

It added, “thus from the supra it appears that it is much of an extra-marital matter during the aforesaid play without immoderate insistence by the complainant for getting joined to the appellant”.