'Only After Physical Relationship, Issue Regarding Marriage Cropped Up': Calcutta High Court Quashes Rape Case
Live LawThe Calcutta High Court recently quashed criminal proceedings against an accused for the alleged offence of rape on the ground that the physical relationship between him and the victim was consensual and the issue of marriage cropped up only after the physical relationship. The single judge bench of Justice Tirthankar Ghosh noted: “Having regard to the version of the complainant and the prosecution witnesses who were also aware regarding the relationship of the accused with the complainant particularly with regard to the narration of the facts that the complainant on her own had been to a hotel and it is only after the physical relationship, the issue regarding marriage cropped up, I am of the opinion that the principles settled hereinabove do apply in the facts and circumstances of the present case. The court relied upon the judgment of the Supreme Court in Pramod Suryabhan Pawar v. State of Maharashtra 9 SCC 608 wherein the Apex Court held: “…the “consent” of a woman with respect to Section 375 must involve an active and reasoned deliberation towards the proposed act. The false promise itself must be of immediate relevance, or bear a direct nexus to the woman's decision to engage in the sexual act.” The court further relied upon the similar findings in the judgments of the Supreme Court in Uday v. State of Karnataka 4 SCC 46; Dr. Dhruvaram Murlidhar Sonar v. State of Maharashtra and Ors 18 SCC 191; Maheshwar Tigga v. State of Jharkhand 10 SCC 108; Sonu v. State of U.P., 2021 SCC OnLine SC 181 and Shambhu Kharwar v. State of U.P.