The courtroom at Srinagar was quiet when Justice Rahul Bharti finally read out the order, but the words landed heavy. A criminal case that had dragged on for years, built around allegations of kidnapping and sexual assault, was struck down in one sweep. The High Court made it clear that what stood before it was not a genuine prosecution but a fractured story stitched together, causing needless suffering to the accused.
Background
The case dates back to September 2015, when a father from Anantnag approached Police Station Achabal claiming his teenage daughter had been kidnapped. An FIR was registered against Sunny Kashyap, a resident of Jammu, under kidnapping provisions.
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However, within days, cracks appeared. The girl, referred to as Miss X by the court, was medically examined. Records showed she was 20 years old, not a minor as claimed. Doctors also found no sign of recent sexual assault. Later, in a statement before a magistrate, she again said she was 20.
Things became more complicated when Kashyap approached the High Court in 2015, stating that the woman had married him of her own will. When produced before the court, she confirmed the marriage but chose to return to her parents. That petition ended there.
Strangely, after years of silence, police filed a chargesheet in 2022, adding serious offences and even declaring Kashyap an absconder, despite earlier records showing they knew exactly where he was.
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Court’s Observations
Justice Bharti did not mince words while examining the police record. The court noted that the girl’s age was wrongly mentioned at the very start, and no effort was made to question this discrepancy. “A father of a missing daughter is unlikely to forget her age,” the bench observed, hinting at deliberate exaggeration.
The judge also questioned why police never explained how the girl was traced so quickly, why the accused was not arrested then, and why crucial court proceedings from 2015 were completely ignored in the final report.
Calling the investigation “regressive and stereotyped,” the court remarked that vital facts were conveniently kept out, as if omitting them would make them disappear. The bench went a step further, observing that the case appeared to be driven by prejudice against an inter-religious marriage rather than evidence.
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Decision
Concluding that allowing the trial to continue would amount to sheer persecution, the High Court invoked its inherent powers and quashed the FIR, the chargesheet, and all proceedings pending before the Anantnag sessions court. The criminal case, the judge ordered, stands closed entirely.
Case Title: Sunny Kashyap v. Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir
Case No.: CRM(M) No. 507/2022 (with CrlM No. 1434/2022)
Case Type: Criminal Petition under Section 482 CrPC (Quashing of FIR/Challan)
Decision Date: 15 December 2025
