In Sanjay Kashyap vs State of U.P. & Anr, Allahabad HC quashed rape case against a man accused of establishing physical relations on the false promise of marriage.

Court observed “there is a growing trend that consensual relationships going on for a prolonged period, upon turning sour, have been sought to be criminalised by invoking criminal jurisprudence.”

The case arose from an FIR lodged on March 30, 2024, u/s 376, 323, 342 and 506 IPC at Gorakhpur. The complainant alleged that she met the accused at a marriage ceremony, developed intimacy after he promised to marry her, and was later assaulted and threatened when he refused marriage. The prosecution claimed that the accused exploited the victim for one year under a false assurance of marriage.

During investigation, complainant stated that she was about 20 years old, educated up to Class 9, and had been in a relationship with the accused for one year. She also expressed before the Magistrate that she still wanted to marry the accused. The medical examination revealed no external injuries on her body.

HC noted major inconsistencies in the allegations and observed that FIR lacked particulars such as the date, time, and place of the alleged rape. Court described the accusations as “bald allegations” unsupported by material particulars and found the relationship between the parties appeared consensual and prolonged in nature.

Court observed that the offence of rape must be invoked only in cases involving genuine sexual violence, coercion, or absence of free consent, and not merely because a consensual relationship failed to culminate in marriage.

It observed that where two consenting adults remain in a long-term relationship, a presumption of voluntary consent arises unless there is clear evidence of deception from the very beginning. It held that complainant had nowhere alleged that the accused lacked intention to marry from the inception, which was a necessary ingredient to establish rape on the basis of false promise of marriage.

Accordingly, Court held that no offence of rape was made out against the accused and concluded that the FIR appeared to have been lodged to pressurise him into marriage after the relationship deteriorated.