Top Court Flags Misuse Of Criminal Justice Machinery In Cases Of Failed Relations

The Supreme Court on Monday flagged the "disquieting tendency" where failed or broken relationships are given the colour of criminality like rape, saying misuse of criminal justice machinery in this regard is a matter of concern and calls for condemnation.

The top court, while quashing an FIR in an alleged rape case, said that to convert every sour relationship into an offence of rape not only trivialises the seriousness of the offence but also inflicts upon the accused an indelible stigma and grave injustice.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan observed that the offence of rape, being of the gravest kind, must be invoked only in cases where there exists genuine sexual violence, coercion or absence of free consent.

The bench said physical intimacy that occurred during the course of a functioning relationship cannot be retrospectively branded as instances of offence of rape merely because the relationship failed to culminate in marriage but also added that the law must remain sensitive to genuine cases where trust has been breached and dignity violated.

"This court has, on numerous occasions, taken note of the disquieting tendency wherein failed or broken relationships are given the colour of criminality," it said.

The top court delivered its verdict on an appeal filed by a man challenging a March 2025 order of the Bombay High Court at Aurangabad, which had dismissed his application seeking the quashing of an FIR lodged in August 2024 in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city.

The top court noted the allegation of rape in the case hinges entirely on the complainant's claim that the man established physical relations with her on the false pretext of marriage.

"We find that the present case is not a case where the appellant (man) lured respondent no. 2 (woman) solely for physical pleasures and then vanished. The relationship continued for a period of three long years, which is a considerable period of time," it said.

The bench said in such cases, physical intimacy that occurred during the course of a functioning relationship cannot be retrospectively branded as instances of offence of rape merely because the relationship failed to culminate in marriage.

It said the court is conscious of the societal context in which, in a country such as ours, the institution of marriage holds deep social and cultural significance.

The bench said the law must remain sensitive to genuine cases where trust has been breached and dignity violated, lest the protective scope of section 376 (punishment for rape) of the erstwhile Indian Penal Code be reduced to a mere formality for those truly aggrieved.

"At the same time, the invocation of this principle must rest upon credible evidence and concrete facts, and not on unsubstantiated allegations or moral conjecture," it said.

The bench said the high court failed to appreciate that a plain reading of the FIR itself revealed that the relationship between the parties was, in fact, consensual.

It said the acts complained of in this case occurred within the contours of a relationship that was, at the time, voluntary and willing.

"The continuation of the prosecution in such facts would be nothing short of an abuse of the court machinery," the bench said while quashing the FIR and the charge sheet filed in the case.

It allowed the appeal and set aside the High Court order.

According to the prosecution, the woman had filed a complaint against her husband and later initiated proceedings against him seeking alimony/maintenance.

The top court noted that in connection with the said proceedings, she was introduced to the appellant, who is a practising advocate, and over a period of time, they developed a close relationship.

It noted that the man had expressed his desire to marry her, but owing to her troubled marital past, she declined the proposal.

It was claimed that the woman got pregnant. The pregnancy was terminated, and later, when she insisted on marriage, the man refused.

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