The Supreme Court on Friday held that a man who withdraws from a consensual relationship cannot be later tried for the offence of rape after the relationship turned sour . It noted a worrying trend of criminal law being weaponised to exact revenge after consensual relationships end.
It warned that society and courts must discourage “the weaponisation of criminal law in the aftermath of an emotional discord between two consenting adults. “The abuse of the criminal justice process in such cases is a matter of serious concern and must be condemned. Criminal law cannot be used as munitions to settle personal scores, exact revenge or coerce an individual to act in any particular way, it added.
Discharging the man of the offence of rape after 15 years, the top court said, “The case at hand is evidently one of consensual relationship that perhaps was camouflaged in a marriage for the sake of avoiding scrutiny or stigma, which eventually came to an end,” the court said. “When every consensual relationship which sours is converted into an accusation of rape, it not only dilutes the gravity of the offence alleged or rather negates the very allegation of crime,” the court said. When the woman sets the criminal justice system into motion, the accused is deprived of his liberty and reputation, the court said. Hence, courts would have to view the entire relationship holistically rather than from the perspective of its end,” the judgment said. The court said that while judicial decisions have deprecated this tendency to use criminal law for settling scores, the judgment notes that this “trend is increasing” which is a “matter of concern” for the courts as ultimately settlement of disputes comes with huge monetary considerations borne by the male accused. “To allow such a prosecution to continue would amount to a misuse and abuse of criminal law and would set a dangerous precedent where a failure in a relationship is criminalised and individuals are driven into litigation for matters that are essentially personal in nature,” the court said.
