Reaffirming a well-established legal principle, the Supreme Court of India ruled that a breach of a promise to marry does not automatically amount to rape unless there was fraudulent intent at the time of consent. In its judgment delivered on March 24, 2025, the Court quashed an FIR registered under Sections 376 (rape) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against a man accused of forcible intercourse under the pretext of marriage.
The Supreme Court, comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K. Vinod Chandran, noted that the woman had accompanied the accused to a hotel room thrice. Despite claiming coercion, her repeated visits contradicted the allegations of force. The Court found no deception or inducement that led to her consent for sexual relations.
"On a reading of the statements made by the victim before the Police, both the First Information Statement and that recorded later on, we are not convinced that the sexual relationship admitted by both parties was without the consent of the victim." – Supreme Court
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The Court pointed out that the complainant acknowledged their close relationship. Despite allegedly experiencing distress after the first two incidents, she willingly accompanied the accused to a hotel room for the third time. Such behavior weakened the argument that force was a factor in their encounters.
The Court cited the precedent set in Prithvirajan vs. The State, which held that for rape charges based on a false promise of marriage, two conditions must be met:
- The accused promised to marry the prosecutrix solely to secure consent for sexual relations.
- The prosecutrix consented solely due to that false promise.
Since neither condition was satisfied in the present case, the Court concluded that the allegations did not constitute rape.
"We have already found that there is no promise of marriage to coerce consent from the victim for sexual intercourse. The promise, if any, was after the first physical intercourse. Even later, the allegation was forceful intercourse without any consent. In all three instances, the claim was that intercourse occurred under threat and coercion, yet no inducement was spoken of by the victim." – Supreme Court
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High Court's Decision Overturned
The Madras High Court had earlier refused to quash the FIR, emphasizing that whether the accused had misled the victim into sexual intercourse under the pretext of marriage was a matter for trial. However, the Supreme Court disagreed, stating that the criminal proceedings were an abuse of the legal process and should not continue.
"We have absolutely no doubt in our mind that the criminal proceedings initiated against the present appellant are nothing but an abuse of process of the court. The High Court should have interfered in exercise of its inherent and extraordinary powers under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C." – Supreme Court
Accordingly, the proceedings before the Sessions Judge (Mahila Court), Erode, in S.C. No. 49 of 2022, were quashed.
Accordingly, the appeal was allowed.
Case Title: JOTHIRAGAWAN VERSUS STATE
Appearances:
Mr. M. P. Parthiban, Counsel for the petitioner,
Mr. Sabarish Subramanian, Counsel for the State
Mr. Vairawan A.S. Counsel for the complainant.
