Married Woman Can't Term Consensual Relationship Rape Over False Marriage Promise: Supreme Court

Last Updated:February 06, 2026, 07:42 IST

The court observed that when a woman is already legally married, she cannot claim rape on the basis of a false promise of marriage.

The Supreme Court has set aside a rape case filed on the allegation of a false promise of marriage, observing that the dispute arose from a soured consensual relationship rather than criminal offence.

A bench compromising Justices BV Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan ruled that the matter was essentially personal in nature and should not have led to criminal proceedings. The court remarked that both individuals ought to have shown restraint instead of drawing the State into a private conflict.

The case stemmed from a February 2025 FIR registered in Bilaspur district. The Chhattisgarh High Court had earlier refused to cancel the proceedings in March last year, after which the accused approached the apex court.

The judges noted that both parties were practising lawyers. The complainant was a 33-year-old married woman and mother of a minor child. The court said her marriage was still legally valid at the time the alleged incidents took place.

“It has been time and again settled by this court that the mere fact that the parties indulged in physical relations pursuant to a promise to marry will not amount to a rape in every case," the bench observed.

The court observed that when a woman is already legally married, she cannot claim rape on the basis of a false promise of marriage. The court made the observation while cancelling criminal proceedings against a lawyer accused by a fellow advocate of rape on the pretext of marriage.

After examining the material on record, the court concluded that the offence under Section 376(2)(n) of the IPC — which deals with repeated rape — was not made out.

“The facts of the present case unmistakably indicate towards a classic case of a consensual relationship turning acrimonious," the bench said.

The judges also highlighted a growing pattern where broken relationships are turned into criminal complaints. They stressed that courts must carefully separate genuine cases from disputes arising out of disagreements between consenting adults.

The bench further highlighted that since the woman’s divorce proceedings were pending, she could not legally marry another person. “The law prohibits bigamous unions and therefore, disallows parties from entering into a second marriage during the subsistence of their first marriage," the court noted.

It added that the complainant, being a lawyer, was aware of this legal position and could not be considered unaware or misled into the relationship. The court said she was “not a naive or gullible woman incapable of taking decisions for herself".

Observing that the alleged offence was not established, the Supreme Court quashed both the FIR and all related proceedings, overturning the High Court’s earlier order.

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