HC cautions against trivialising rape offence, grants relief to Gorakhpur man

Prayagraj: Observing that courts are increasingly witnessing cases where consensual relationships turning sour are being converted into criminal prosecutions for rape, the Allahabad high court quashed criminal proceedings against a Gorakhpur man accused of rape on the false promise of marriage.

The high court said the misuse of criminal law in such matters was a “matter of profound concern” and cautioned against trivialising the serious offence of rape.

Justice Vivek Kumar Singh passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Gorakhpur resident Sanjay Kashyap under Section 528 (inherent powers of the high court) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), formerly Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The petition sought quashing of the chargesheet, cognisance order and entire proceedings in a rape case registered at Pipraich police station in Gorakhpur.

The court observed that in the present case, a consensual relationship that continued for a prolonged period had been sought to be criminalised after it turned sour by invoking criminal law, and said continuation of the prosecution would amount to a “gross misuse of criminal jurisdiction”.

Allowing the petition in its May 20 judgment, the high court held that every failed promise of marriage cannot automatically be construed as rape unless it is established that the accused had no intention of marrying the woman right from the inception of the relationship.

According to the FIR lodged on March 30, 2024, the complainant alleged that she had met the accused at a wedding ceremony about a year earlier. She claimed that the accused gifted her a mobile phone and subsequently promised to marry her in the presence of her family members.

The woman alleged that they entered into a physical relationship after the marriage promise was made, but later the accused began evading the issue and eventually refused to marry her.