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Mohd. Julfukar vs. The State of Uttarakhand

Not available · 2024 INSC 38Decided 9 Jan 2024
Not available
Justice B.R. Gavai · Justice Sandeep Mehta

Background

The appellant and the complainant were in a relationship against their parents' wishes and began living together. The complainant's father filed a habeas corpus petition alleging she was illegally detained; she told the High Court in 2018 that she was an adult and wished to stay with the appellant (whom she called her husband), and the petition was dismissed. The couple later separated, and the complainant filed an FIR in 2019 alleging rape, unnatural offences, and criminal intimidation under Sections 376, 377 and 506 IPC. The Uttarakhand High Court refused to quash the FIR, leading to this appeal.

Decision Breakdown

The complainant herself had told the High Court that she was forced to marry the appellant, meaning any relationship happened after that (disputed) marriage, so even taking her statement at face value, the ingredients of Section 376 IPC were not made out. More decisively, she filed a fresh affidavit before the Supreme Court stating the marriage was consensual, that the couple had since divorced by mutual Talaq-e-Khula in September 2022, and that she no longer wished to pursue the criminal case. The Court held that continuing the prosecution would serve no purpose and would in fact be prejudicial to the complainant herself, who wanted to move on with her life. The FIR and the High Court's order refusing quashment were both set aside, and the appeal was allowed.

Lesson Learnt

Where the complainant in a sexual-offence case herself later affirms, through a sworn affidavit, that the relationship was consensual and the dispute has been amicably resolved, and continuing the case would harm rather than help her, the Supreme Court can quash the FIR and criminal proceedings even at the special-leave stage.

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

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