The Allahabad High Court quashed rape proceedings based on an alleged false promise of marriage, ruling that a long-term consensual relationship between adults cannot later be treated as rape merely because the relationship did not culminate in marriage.
The Karnataka High Court quashed rape proceedings against a man accused of a false promise of marriage under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. Justice M. Nagaprasanna said, “The law does not criminalize heart break,” citing a consensual relationship.
The Delhi High Court granted anticipatory bail to an Indian Army personnel accused of rape on a false promise of marriage, with Justice Prateek Jalan observing that the roka ceremony after their five-year relationship strengthens the accused’s defence.
A sessions court acquitted a man accused of rape on the false promise of marriage due to insufficient evidence. Additional Sessions Judge Harjeet Singh Jaspal ruled the prosecution failed to prove charges under Indian Penal Code Sections 376 and 506 in the 2017 case.
The Supreme Court warned against turning failed relationships into rape cases, calling it a worrying misuse of criminal law. It said consensual intimacy in a genuine relationship cannot later be labelled as rape just because marriage did not happen.
A PIL in the Delhi High Court seeks to include transgender women under rape laws, challenging Section 63 BNS and Section 18 of the Transgender Rights Act. Senior Advocate N Hariharan has been appointed as Amicus Curiae to assist the Court.
