New Delhi, October 30: The Supreme Court has observed that physical intimacy during a consensual relationship cannot retrospectively be treated as rape merely because the relationship later breaks down.
A bench comprising Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan made the observation while discharging Kerala resident Santosh Kumar N P from charges of rape and cheating.
The court said consensual physical intimacy during an ongoing relationship cannot subsequently be branded as rape simply because the relationship soured or came to an end. However, it clarified that cases involving consent obtained through deliberate deception or fraud from the beginning must be treated differently.
The bench observed that retrospective regret over consensual intimacy, arising solely from the breakdown of a relationship, cannot by itself turn the relationship into a criminal offence. Such an approach could affect the personal liberty and reputation of the accused.
The court also emphasised that an individual has the right to withdraw from a consensual relationship. A decision to end a relationship cannot automatically be treated as deception or fraud.
At the same time, the bench underlined that allegations involving actual sexual violence, coercion or manipulation of consent must be taken seriously. It stressed the need to distinguish between consent obtained through deception from the outset and regret that develops after a relationship ends.
The case concerned Santosh Kumar N P, who was accused by a woman of concealing his earlier marriage before marrying her. According to the prosecution, his first marriage was still subsisting when he entered into the second marriage and allegedly led the woman to believe that their marriage was legally valid.
The woman had accused him of rape, cheating and criminal breach of trust. According to the case details, the two married in Mysore and lived together from 1996 to 2003.
The Kerala High Court had earlier rejected his plea seeking discharge and quashing of the criminal proceedings. Santosh Kumar subsequently approached the Supreme Court challenging that decision.
The Supreme Court eventually discharged him from the charges of rape and cheating, reiterating the distinction between failed consensual relationships and cases involving deception or the absence of legally valid consent.
