Adults in consensual relationship can’t invoke rape laws after breakup: Delhi HC

The Delhi High Court ruled that adults in a consensual relationship cannot use rape laws to criminalize a breakup, quashing a woman's rape case against a man.

New Delhi

The court passed the judgment in a petition filed by a man accused of rape by a woman he had been in a relationship with. (Representative photo)

Adults who have had a consensual physical relationship cannot invoke rape laws to criminalise a breakup, the Delhi High Court held, quashing a rape case filed by a woman against a man with whom she had been in a consensual relationship for four years.

A bench of justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, in her verdict released on Wednesday, said that the present case was an example of “failed relationship”, wherein the man’s decision to break up was not accepted by the woman and resulted in a rape case.

“An educated and independent adult, upon entering into a consensual relationship, must also recognise that the law cannot be invoked to criminalise the mere failure of a relationship. The dissolution of a relationship, by itself, does not give rise to criminal liability,” a bench of justice Sharma said in her verdict delivered on January 12.

The verdict was delivered in the petition filed by the man to quash the case registered under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 (SC ST Act) in September 2023.

In his petition before the high court, the man, through his lawyer Bajinder Singh, asserted that he had been falsely implicated in the case and was innocent since the physical relationship between the two was consensual and voluntary. The man claimed that they were in a consensual romantic relationship from 2019 to 2023, which later turned sour and was subsequently portrayed as a criminal offence.

The Delhi Police, represented by additional public prosecutor Manoj, opposed the petition, asserting that the allegations were serious in nature.

The victim contended that the man had made romantic advances towards her and thereafter, physically, mentally, and sexually exploited her on the false pretext of marriage, hurled caste-based slurs on repeated occasions, despite being aware that she belonged to the Scheduled Caste.

However, the court, in its 28-page verdict, quashed the case under IPC and SC ST Act, noting that the material on record, including the WhatsApp chats between the two, indicated mutual affection, voluntary interaction and continued communication even after the reported incident of 2023. She said that the same reflected that the man and the woman knew each other for several years and were involved in a consensual relationship.