'An afterthought, act of vengeance', Supreme Court quashes FIR in rape case

Action against the accused was initiated by the woman after he lodged a complaint against her with the authorities, says the bench

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has quashed an FIR lodged against a government servant for committing rape upon a colleague working as a computer operator on the pretext of marriage, after finding the complaint was lodged as an afterthought and as an act of vengeance.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh noted that the action was initiated by the woman, the mother of a son from her previous marriage, after the appellant, working as Assistant Revenue Inspector in Suhagi Municipal Corporation, had lodged the complaint against her with the authorities.

"The fact that the subject FIR was only lodged after the issuance of a show-cause notice, which obviously has large real-world implications insofar as the complainant is concerned, leaves open a gaping possibility that the same was lodged as an afterthought and was a vehicle for vengeance for the impending consequences," the bench said.

Appellant Surendra Khawse assailed the January 27, 2025, judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had refused to exercise its powers under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita to quash the FIR and the chargesheet.

It was alleged that during work, the friendship of the two developed into a physical relationship. The woman claimed she clearly indicated she was married and had a son. He said that they would, at one point in future, be joined in matrimony.

It was then alleged that on March 15, 2023, the appellant-accused called the complainant to his residence after office hours and forced intimate relations with her. When she resisted/refused, he assured her of marriage.

She claimed this situation continued till April 10, 2023. A few days thereafter, upon being asked as to why they were yet to get married, the complainant alleged that the appellant-accused refused and asked her to marry someone else. Terming this to be rape on the pretext of marriage, the complainant filed the FIR.

On April 24, 2023, the man filed a complaint with the police alleging that the complainant, with whom he did not want any relationship or dealing, repeatedly threatened him, saying that she would kill herself. He alleged she came to his residence, hurled abuses and also consumed rat poison. 

He also lodged a complaint with municipal authorities, who issued a show-cause notice to the woman. She was also asked to rectify herself, or she would be relieved of employment.

The woman thereafter filed the FIR on October 13, 2023.

The court noted the appellant-accused and the complainant had been colleagues for the past five years, and it was somewhere during this time that their relationship progressed.

"We notice that the appellant-accused had initiated legal processes/administrative processes against the complainant much prior to the subject FIR being lodged," the bench said.

The court noted the FIR was lodged four months after the alleged incident of forced sexual intercourse with the complainant. 

The bench said, if the description of the offence is taken at face value, right at the first instance, the complainant was not willing and was persuaded to engage in relations on the assurance of eventual marriage between the parties.

"When she enquired as to when the same would take place, a few days later, the appellant-accused allegedly refused and asked her to marry someone else. That would be the first occasion when, having realised that she had been taken advantage of, the complainant should have taken the requisite action," the bench said.