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The Supreme Court has given a very important and precedent-setting decision on rape FIRs (FIRs) filed in cases where long-term love relationships end with mutual consent and marriage promises are not fulfilled. The apex court has said in clear words that not every broken relationship can be termed as ‘cheating’ nor can physical relations formed with mutual consent between two adults after a breakup be categorized as ‘rape’. The court reiterated that there is a subtle but profound difference between the legal and practical situations of ‘False Promise to Marry’ and ‘Breach of Promise to Marry’, which cannot be ignored while applying criminal law.
The Supreme Court bench, while hearing a case, said that when two adult persons enter into a relationship and have physical relations with their free will, understanding and consent, they are fully aware of its social and personal consequences. The bench remarked that circumstances in life do not always remain the same; Many times relationships do not reach the destination of marriage due to family disagreements, lack of mutual coordination, career priorities or other social reasons.
The court said, “It has to be understood that subsequent non-fulfillment of a promise does not in itself prove that the promise was made with the intention of being fraudulent or deceiving from the very beginning. The end of every relationship cannot be construed as a criminal conspiracy.”
The Court in its judgment reiterated the clear distinction between the two situations while outlining the scope of Section 375 and Section 90 (Misconception of Fact) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC):
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False Promise to Marry: This is a situation where the man had no intention of marrying from the beginning. He lured the woman into marriage with the sole purpose of establishing physical relations by keeping her under illusion. In the eyes of the law, this is a ‘misunderstanding of fact’ and can render consent invalid and constitute the crime of rape.
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Breach of Promise: In this situation, both the parties had sincerely considered marriage, but due to differences over time, family opposition or unexpected circumstances, they were not able to get married. The Supreme Court clarified that this cannot under any circumstances amount to criminal misconduct or rape, it can only be a breach of promise at a civil level.
The court also expressed concern that in recent years, there has been an increase in the trend of resorting to serious criminal sections to retaliate or force a settlement after a breakup. Registering a case against any person under serious sections like rape causes irreparable damage to his social respect, career and mental health. When it is clear to the court that both the parties were adults, the relationship was consensual for a long period of time and the relationship was not entered into under any inducement or duress, then the police and lower courts should avoid giving a criminal color to such cases.
Quashing the FIR and legal action lodged against the petitioner in the related case, the court said that the evidence on record shows that the relationship between the two parties was completely based on consent. The Supreme Court, in its previous landmark decisions—like ‘Dhruv Narayan Gautam vs. State of Uttar Pradesh’ And ‘Anurag Soni vs. State of Chhattisgarh’—citing that it is an abuse of the process of law to prosecute the woman unless it can be proven that the woman’s consent was based on deception from the beginning.
This judgment makes it clear that the law strongly stands with women in cases where there has been exploitation through deceit and conspiracy, but the failures of personal emotional relationships cannot be made a subject matter of the criminal justice system and an innocent person can be put behind the bars.