The Madhya Pradesh High Court has dismissed a rape case filed by a woman who claimed to be the ‘second wife’ of a man, citing the case as baseless. The court observed that the allegations seemed to be a tactic to pressure the man for money.
Justice Anand Pathak, who presided over the case, noted that the woman made false allegations to extract financial benefits from the man. The case involved a 41-year-old woman who filed an FIR against 55-year-old Manohar Silawat, accusing him of raping her in May 2001, which allegedly led to her pregnancy and the birth of a child. She claimed that he continued to have a physical relationship with her, demanded money for her maintenance, and threatened her with severe consequences if she refused his advances.
Defense and Court Findings:
Manohar Silawat challenged the FIR and the subsequent criminal proceedings, which were based on Sections 376 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), by filing a petition under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). His legal counsel argued that both Silawat and the complainant belonged to the Scheduled Caste community and lived together under the custom of ‘Natra,’ a traditional live-in or marital arrangement. With his first wife’s consent, Silawat had lived with both women.
The defense claimed that when Silawat refused to transfer his entire property to the woman, she filed false allegations against him. The defense also referred to a maintenance application filed by the woman under Section 125 of the CrPC, where she sought support from Silawat, claiming she was his wife and had been removed from the matrimonial home in July 2019.
The court observed that the woman had lived with Silawat and had a son, Harsh, who is now around 20 years old. Despite this long-standing relationship, she waited 18 years to file the complaint. The court concluded that allowing such unfounded allegations would lead to a miscarriage of justice and unnecessarily drag the petitioner into legal battles.
Therefore, the High Court quashed the FIR and all related criminal proceedings, granting Silawat’s plea for dismissal of the case.
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