The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that a married woman cannot allege that her consent for a physical relationship was obtained under a false promise of marriage. The Court, led by Justice Maninder S. Bhatti, quashed a rape case filed against a man by a married woman.
The case, titled Veerendra Yadav v. State of Madhya Pradesh, arose when the complainant, who is married with two children, accused her neighbor of rape. She claimed that the accused promised to marry her after divorcing his wife and established a relationship with her. However, he later declined, saying he could not divorce his wife.
The accused, himself married, approached the High Court to quash the charges.
After examining the facts, the Court observed:
- Consent given by a married woman for intimacy cannot be treated as consent obtained by misconception of fact under a false promise of marriage.
- The complainant admitted to being in a consensual relationship for three months, meeting the accused whenever her husband was away.
- The FIR contained no specific claim that the accused pressured her into marriage under a false pretext.
The Court concluded that the allegations, even if accepted at face value, did not make out the offence of rape. It stressed that such cases must be “nipped in the bud” to avoid unnecessary trials when the facts do not establish a criminal offence.
Accordingly, the High Court quashed the case against the accused.
Case Title: Veerendra Yadav v. State of Madhya Pradesh
Be a part our social media community:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IndianMan.in?mibextid=ZbWKwL
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/indianman.in?igsh=MWZ2N3N0ZmpwM3l3cw==
