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Dr. Dhruvaram Murlidhar Sonar v. The State of Maharashtra

Criminal Appeal · 2018 INSC 1092Decided 22 Nov 2018
Criminal Appeal No. 1443 of 2018
Justice A.K. Sikri · Justice S. Abdul Nazeer

Background

The appellant, a government medical officer, and the complainant, a widowed nurse at the same health centre, began a relationship after he told her he was separated from his wife and intended to marry her once formalities were completed. They lived together intermittently as a couple for a period, but he eventually married another woman, prompting her to file an FIR alleging rape under Section 376(2)(b) IPC and offences under the SC/ST Act. The Bombay High Court had refused to quash the FIR, so the matter reached the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Court reaffirmed the distinction between a false promise to marry made solely to obtain sex (which can amount to rape, since consent is then vitiated by a "misconception of fact") and a genuine relationship or broken promise that does not rise to deceit. Reviewing the complainant's own narrative, a consciously chosen, sustained live-in relationship entered into for companionship and love, with no allegation of force or passive submission, the Court found no misconception-induced consent and therefore no rape made out even taking the FIR's allegations at face value. It also found no ingredients of cheating (Section 420 IPC) or any offence under the SC/ST Act disclosed. The FIR, chargesheet, and criminal proceedings were accordingly quashed under Section 482 CrPC.

Lesson Learnt

Not every failed promise of marriage after a consensual relationship amounts to rape in law: courts distinguish a deceitful promise made only to obtain sex from a genuine relationship or broken promise, and will quash a criminal case where the complainant's own account shows conscious, voluntary participation rather than consent obtained by fraud.

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

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