Where the relationship ends in a breakup, the man is in the lockup: Karnataka High Court

“Where the relationship ends in a breakup, the man is in the lockup,” the Karnataka High Court observed, while highlighting the “misuse” of Section 69 (sexual intercourse by deceitful means or false promise of marriage) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and mushrooming of cases before the court challenging complaints lodged against men under this provision of the criminal law.

The court made these observations in its interim order of staying a probe against a 34-year-old man and ordering his immediate release from prison, where he has been lodged for the past 42 days based on the complaint lodged by his woman colleague, with whom he had a relationship for about eight months.