Long-Term Consensual Relationship Without Deception Not Rape, Rules Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court has clarified that a long-standing consensual physical relationship between adults cannot be treated as rape under Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), unless it is proven that the relationship began with deception or a false promise of marriage.
Justice Anish Kumar Gupta observed that every breach of a promise to marry does not automatically amount to rape. For a relationship to fall under the definition of rape, it must be established that the promise of marriage was false from the very beginning and was made with the intent to deceive.
The ruling came in a case involving Shrey Gupta, who faced rape and extortion charges after a widow alleged that he had promised to marry her but later got engaged to another woman. She also accused him of demanding ₹50 lakh to prevent the release of intimate videos.
The Court noted that the complainant and the accused had shared a consensual relationship for 12–13 years, including the time when her husband was alive. It further found that the woman, being older and in a position of influence as the widow of Gupta’s employer, exerted undue pressure on him to maintain the relationship.
Highlighting the legal definition of rape, the Court stated that consent is valid only if given voluntarily, without fear, coercion, or misconception of fact. Since the relationship was consensual and lacked evidence of deceit from its inception, the Court ruled that it could not be categorized as rape.
On the extortion charge under Section 386 IPC, the Court pointed out inconsistencies in the complainant’s testimony and found insufficient evidence to support her allegations.
Citing the Supreme Court’s ruling in Naim Ahamed v. State of Haryana, the High Court stressed that not every failure to marry should be treated as a false promise. Accordingly, it quashed the criminal proceedings against Gupta, holding that the charges of rape and extortion were unsustainable.
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