Supreme Court quashes conviction in rape case, says it had 'sixth sense' that parties can be brought together

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has quashed the conviction of a man in a rape case, noting the complainant and the convict have married each other and observed that the consensual relationship between the parties was given a criminal colour owing to a misunderstanding.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said that when the matter came up before the top court, after considering the facts of the case, "we had a sixth sense that the appellant and the respondent prosecutrix could be brought together once again if they decided to marry each other".

It noted the parties had married each other in July this year and had been residing together since then.

"This is one of those rare cases where, on the intervention of this court, the appellant herein, who had applied to seek suspension of his sentence, was ultimately benefited by quashing of his conviction as well as the sentence," the bench said in its December 5 verdict.

The top court delivered its verdict on an appeal by the man challenging an April 2024 Madhya Pradesh High Court order rejecting his application seeking suspension of the sentence. A trial court had convicted the man in the case and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years along with a Rs 55,000 fine.

According to the top court bench, it had interacted with the appellant and the woman in the presence of their parents and was informed that they were willing to marry each other. It had granted interim bail to the appellant, and the marriage between the parties took place in July, and their parents are happy with this development.

"Consequently, we have invoked our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India to do complete justice in the matter by quashing the complaint as well as the conviction and sentence passed against the appellant herein," said the bench of Justices Nagarathna and Sharma.

It said, "We think that owing to a misunderstanding, the consensual relationship between the parties was given a criminal colour and converted into an offence of false promise of marriage, whereas the parties, in fact, intended to marry each other." The apex court said the appellant had met the woman in 2015 on a social media platform and both had developed a liking for each other. Thereafter, they entered into a consensual physical relationship with each other and as per the woman, she acted on the alleged false promise of marriage given to her by the appellant, it said.

According to the bench, the appellant seeking a postponement in the date of marriage might have caused an insecurity in the woman, which spurred her to file the criminal complaint.

She filed an FIR in November 2021.

After the trial court convicted the man in April last year, he filed an appeal in the high court. His application seeking suspension of sentence was rejected by the high court, following which he moved the apex court.

The top court noted that since the parties were married and residing together, the counsel appearing for both of them submitted that the criminal proceedings may be quashed.

The bench quashed the FIR and the trial court's judgment in the case. Consequently, the appeal pending before the high court is rendered infructuous, it said.

The appellant's counsel told the bench that he was suspended from service owing to the criminal complaint and the conviction and sentence imposed on him by the trial court.

"In view of this order, a direction may be issued to the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, to revoke the order of suspension and to pay the arrears of salary to the appellant," the Supreme Court bench said.