High Court canceled the order of CJM Doon court and the FIR under rape section. file photo
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Jagran correspondent, Nainital. The High Court, while quashing the order dated October 5, 2023 of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Dehradun and the FIR lodged at the police station Mussoorie in a case of rape on the pretext of marriage, said that the long duration of the relationship, frequent conversations and continuous living together of one's own free will, is against the presumption of initial fraudulent intention.
On behalf of the accused youth, a petition was filed in the High Court to cancel the charge sheet filed in the CJM court and the case registered against him. The court said that if the allegations are looked at in their reality, at the most they point towards a relationship which later failed, which cannot be considered a crime under Section 376. The girl, resident of Mussoorie, had filed an FIR in Mussoorie police station in 2023 saying that both had known each other.
On the pretext of marriage, the young man had physical relations for a long time. The single bench of Judge Justice Ashish Naithani, while giving an important decision in this case, said that the entire case is based only on the allegation that the accused young man had assured of marriage and later refused to marry the girl. The accused youth's advocate argued that mere breaking of the promise of marriage does not constitute the offense of rape unless it is shown that the promise was false from the beginning and was made only to obtain consent for physical relationship.
The government counsel argued that whether the promise of marriage was false from the beginning or it was a case of breach of promise later on, is entirely a question of facts, which can be decided only during the trial on the basis of evidence. Since the issues for trial have been stated in the charge sheet, the petition should be dismissed.
After seeing the record, the single bench said that in the FIR, it has been admitted that there was continuous conversation between the young man and the girl, togetherness of their own free will and repeated physical relations with consent. The court found on the prosecution's allegation that such relationships were built on the trust of marriage, which was not consummated later.
In the present case, neither the FIR nor the charge sheet mention any specific circumstances, behavior or anything at that time which would suggest that the youth had no intention of marrying the complainant from the very beginning of the relationship. The court said that continuing with criminal proceedings where the allegations and essential elements of the offense are not disclosed without dispute would be an abuse of the process of law. With this comment, the court passed the order of the CJM court and the order to cancel the entire proceedings of the case.
The promise was false from the beginning
The court said that both the boy and the girl were children. Were in a relationship for a long time. There is talk of constant conversation between the two and a willing relationship. The prosecution case is based entirely on the allegation that the relationship was entered into under the pretext of marriage and the young man later refused to marry.
For an offense under Section 376 based on promise of marriage, it has to be prima facie shown that the promise was false from the beginning and was made only to obtain consent. Mere breaking of a promise, however morally wrong, cannot in itself be considered a misdemeanor if there is no evidence of initial deception.
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