തകർന്ന ബന്ധങ്ങളുടെ പേരിൽ ബലാത്സംഗക്കേസുകൾ ചുമത്തുന്നത് ശരിയല്ലെന്ന് സുപ്രീം കോടതിയുടെ കർശന മുന്നറിയിപ്പ്

The bench stressed that rape charges, given the gravity of the offence, must be invoked only in cases involving actual sexual violence, coercion or manipulation of consent

The Supreme Court on Friday cautioned against the growing trend of failed relationships turning into criminal cases, ruling that physical intimacy during a consensual relationship cannot retrospectively be branded as rape merely because the relationship later breaks down.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan made the observation while discharging a Kerala-based man, Santosh Kumar N P, of charges of rape and cheating. The court stressed the need to distinguish between cases where sexual consent is invalid from the outset due to deliberate deception or fraud and those involving retrospective regret over consensual intimacy following the end of a relationship.

"In such cases, physical intimacy that occurred during the currency of a functioning relationship cannot be retrospectively branded as an act of rape merely because the relationship soured and no longer subsists," the bench said.

The court observed that regret over a failed relationship cannot, by itself, turn a consensual relationship into a criminal offence or trigger the criminal justice system in a manner that deprives the accused of his liberty and reputation.

"Such an approach denudes the man of any agency entirely as the mere factor of being in a consensual relationship at one point would bind him to it entirely for fear of being accused of rape at a subsequent point of time," the top court said.

"In such a scenario, can it be said that the man has no right to withdraw from the relationship? Can the decision be termed as deceit or fraud? Clearly not," it said.

The bench said it had repeatedly witnessed the disturbing trend of failed relationships being converted into criminal cases.

Emphasising that rape is a heinous offence, the court said the charge must be invoked in cases involving actual sexual violence, coercion or manipulation of consent.

"When every consensual relationship which sours is converted into an accusation of rape it dilutes the gravity of the offence alleged or rather negates the very allegation of crime," the bench said.

Santosh Kumar N P had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court's dismissal of his discharge petition and plea to quash the proceedings against him.

According to the prosecution, the woman alleged that the accused concealed his earlier marriage and entered into a second marriage with her. She claimed that he had sexual intercourse with her on the basis of consent obtained through an "illegal marriage" secured by fraud.

The woman further alleged that the accused deceitfully cohabited with her by inducing her to believe that their marriage was lawful. She claimed that he married her while his previous marriage was still subsisting.

The woman, who was divorced from an earlier marriage, had accused him of rape, cheating and breach of trust. She alleged that they got married in Mysore and cohabited from 1996 to 2003.