08/02/2026
The Supreme Court has ruled that a married woman cannot file a r**e case on the ground of a false promise of marriage if she knowingly entered into a consensual physical relationship while her marriage was still subsisting. Expressing concern over the misuse of criminal law, the court observed that when a consensual relationship later turns sour, it should not automatically be converted into a r**e allegation.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan held that since a married woman is legally ineligible to marry another person, any alleged promise of marriage made to her is neither enforceable nor capable of being acted upon under law. Relying on Section 5(i) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955—which prohibits marriage if either party has a living spouse—the court quashed criminal proceedings against a lawyer accused of r**e on such grounds.
