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Biswajyoti Chatterjee v. State of West Bengal

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 458Decided 7 Apr 2025
Crl.A. No.-001842-001842 - 2025 (arising out of SLP(Crl.) No. 4261 of 2024)
Mrs. Justice B.V. Nagarathna · Justice Satish Chandra Sharma

Background

The appellant, a former judicial officer (Civil Judge, Senior Division, Calcutta), was accused by a woman he met in 2014 while she was going through a divorce. She alleged he promised to marry her, provided financial support to her and her son, and had a physical relationship with her on that promise, but abandoned her once her divorce was finalized. An FIR was registered in 2015 for offences under Sections 376(2)(f) (rape on false promise of marriage), 417 (cheating) and 506 (criminal intimidation) IPC. His applications for discharge were rejected by the trial court and the Calcutta High Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the complainant was a mature adult who knew throughout that the appellant was a separated-but-still-married man, and had received financial support from him before and during the relationship, meaning she made a reasoned, informed choice to enter and continue the relationship rather than being misled by a false promise. Relying on precedents including Pramod Suryabhan Pawar and Uday v. State of Karnataka, the Court reiterated that consent given during a prolonged, voluntary relationship cannot later be recast as consent obtained through a "misconception of fact" simply because the relationship soured. It also found no evidence of fraudulent inducement or criminal intimidation. The Court set aside the High Court's order and discharged the appellant, terminating the criminal proceedings.

Lesson Learnt

Criminal courts have increasingly cautioned against converting failed consensual relationships into rape prosecutions merely because a promised marriage did not materialize: a genuinely false promise-to-marry charge requires proof that the promise was false and made in bad faith from the very beginning, not just that the relationship eventually ended.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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