The Orissa High Court has quashed a rape case filed against a man by his former partner, observing that criminal proceedings cannot be used to settle grievances arising from a failed consensual relationship, particularly when such action risks unsettling an established marital life.
Justice S K Panigrahi, hearing a petition from the accused man, held that criminal proceedings should not operate in a manner that unnecessarily disrupts a settled marriage, especially when allegations prima facie stem from the breakdown of a consensual relationship.
On May 22, Justice Panigrahi set aside the FIR registered at Cuttack Mahila police station in August 2024, along with all consequential proceedings under sections 376(2)(n), 294, 506, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
The complainant alleged that the man was in a relationship with her and promised to marry her after consulting his parents. She claimed he later blocked her calls and social media accounts. After learning he chose another woman for marriage, she filed a complaint, leading to the FIR in August 2024.
The accused informed the court that he married the other woman on November 17, 2023, and the marriage was registered on August 13, 2024. He was arrested in Bihar in November 2024, secured bail from a Cuttack court, and then approached the high court to quash the proceedings.
Examining records, Justice Panigrahi noted that the parties had been in a romantic relationship since 2018 and shared physical intimacy over a prolonged period. The relationship appeared voluntary for several years without any contemporaneous allegation of coercion, force, or exploitation.
“The materials on record overwhelmingly indicate that the relationship between the parties was consensual in nature,” Justice Panigrahi observed, adding that the complaint was lodged only after the relationship soured and the parties drifted apart.
Justice Panigrahi also observed that continuing criminal proceedings from a past consensual relationship could cause serious prejudice to his existing matrimonial life and family circumstances.
Concluding that the allegations, even if accepted at face value, did not constitute the alleged offences, the high court quashed the FIR and all related proceedings.
