{"id":302318,"date":"2023-09-25T17:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T11:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=302318"},"modified":"2023-10-03T11:47:53","modified_gmt":"2023-10-03T06:17:53","slug":"delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify; line-height: 150%;\">\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Delhi High Court:<\/span> In a case wherein, a writ petition was filed by the petitioner under Article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001574969\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">226<\/a>\/<a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001574971\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">227<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726967\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Constitution<\/a> read with Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001519791\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">482<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726935\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Criminal Procedure Code, 1973<\/a> (&#8216;CrPC&#8217;) seeking to quash the FIR registered under Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">376<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561632\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">323<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561860\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">506<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">509<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561765\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">427<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Penal Code, 1860<\/a> (&#8216;IPC&#8217;), <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Swarana Kanta Sharma, J.*<\/span> opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Background<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">On 13-10-2022, the FIR was registered based on the complaint filed by Respondent 2 who stated that the petitioner had met her for the first time in September 2021 and had promised to marry her and on false promise of marriage, the petitioner forcibly developed physical relations with her. After a month, the parties prepared an agreement for live-in-relationship in which the petitioner mentioned himself as bachelor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Respondent 2 further stated that she made the petitioner meet her parents and when she requested to meet the petitioner&#8217;s parents, the petitioner always made excuses. In May 2022, Respondent 2 came to know that the petitioner was already married and had concealed this fact from her. Thereafter, the petitioner promised Respondent 2 that he had already applied for divorce from his wife and would divorce her within six months. Thus, both of them continued their relationship and it was alleged on 29-4-2022, that the petitioner visited her, and he intentionally fought with her and forcibly made physical relationship with her on the pretext that he would marry her soon. Thereafter, Respondent 2 became pregnant, but the petitioner stopped attending Respondent 2&#8217;s phone call. Thus, Respondent 2 filed the complaint and got the FIR registered. Thereafter, the petitioner filed the present petition to quash the impugned FIR and stated that Respondent 2 was already married and had a child and n the pretext of being estranged from her husband, Respondent 2 had chased the petitioner and had enchased the fact that the petitioner was staying away from his wife. The petitioner further stated that Respondent 2 herself drafted the live-in relationship agreement and forged the petitioner&#8217;s signature. The petitioner contended that when he refused to live with Respondent 2, she got furious and filed a complaint with his superiors. The petitioner further contended that when she failed to live with him and her attempt to threaten the petitioner&#8217;s wife did not succeed, she filed the complaint.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Analysis, Law, and Decision<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court upon perusal of the live-in relationship agreement opined that Respondent 2 had herself signed the document stating that she had entered into the relationship without being influenced in any manner by the petitioner. The Court opined that the petitioner&#8217;s contention that Respondent 2 had forged his signatures on the live-in relationship agreement, did not inspire the truth on the face as there was no need for Respondent 2 to write that the petitioner was unmarried and if Respondent 2 forged the petitioner&#8217;s signature, she could have also mentioned that the petitioner promised to get married to Respondent 2.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court relied on <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Shambhu Kharwar<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">State of U.P.<\/span> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/Members\/NoteView.aspx?enc=SlRYVC05MDAxMjI2NTQzJiYmJiY0MCYmJiYmU2VhcmNoJiYmJiZmdWxsc2NyZWVuJiYmJiZ0cnVlJiYmJiZzaGFtYmh1IGtoYXJ3YXIgdi4gc3RhdGUgb2YgdS5wLiYmJiYmQWxsV29yZHMmJiYmJmdTZWFyY2gmJiYmJmZhbHNl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2022 SCC OnLine SC 1032<\/a> and noted that Respondent 2 was a major and had entered into a relationship with the petitioner out of her own free will and the live-in relationship agreement did not refer to any promise related to marriage or any other incidental details in relation to any intention of marriage between them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court opined that by the time when Respondent 2 came to know about the petitioner&#8217;s marital status, she herself was going through the adjudication of her own divorce and would have known that the grant of divorce within six months could not have been in the hands of parties as the same was a complex legal process. Further, the Court opined that her decision to continue with the relationship even after knowing about everything indicated her consent towards maintaining the relationship.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court opined that &#8220;<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">every act of perceived immoral conduct by societal standards may not be criminal within the parameters of the law<\/span>.&#8221; Further, the Court opined that the parties conduct in the present case might not be morally correct, but the two consenting adults entered into live-in relationship knowing that they were not eligible to marry each other, therefore some might consider their actions immoral, but it did not meet the requirement of Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">376<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IPC<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court opined that &#8220;<span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Statutory interpretations cannot be replaced by moral judgments. When the law contains a moral element, the Court is competent to decide it on the moral basis, however, in a purely legal way. It cannot substitute the statutory law and its ingredients by incorporating its own moral concerns and substituting criminality in a case where no statute makes it criminal, but judge&#8217;s own sense of morality makes it so<\/span>.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court opined that when Respondent 2 was not legally eligible to marry someone else due to her existing marriage to another partner, she could not have claimed to induce into a sexual relationship under false pretext of marriage. Thus, the protection and remedies that were available under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">376<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IPC<\/a> could not be extended to a person who was not legally entitled to marry the person with whom she was in sexual relationship with. The Court relied on <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Joseph Shine<\/span> v. <span style=\"font-style: italic;\">Union of India<\/span>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/Members\/NoteView.aspx?enc=KDIwMTkpIDMgU0NDIDM5JiYmJiY0MCYmJiYmU2VhcmNoUGFnZQ==\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">(2019) 3 SCC 39<\/a> and opined that in the present case, the action of the parties could not be considered as an offence.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court observed that a critical aspect of the case was Respondent 2&#8217;s marital status as she was not legally divorced and thus the petitioner could not have entered into a legal marriage with Respondent 2. Consequently, there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of a marriage from the petitioner, as she by virtue of her existing marriage was ineligible to marry the petitioner.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">The Court held that for the offences mentioned in FIR, there was nothing in record to suggest the commission of offences under Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561765\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">427<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">509<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561860\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">506<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IPC<\/a>. Also, the Trial Court in its order dated 10-04-2023 framed charge only under Section <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">376<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IPC<\/a> against the petitioner.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">Thus, the Court quashed the impugned FIR registered for offences under Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561701\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">376<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561632\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">323<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561860\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">506<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561863\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">509<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0001561765\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">427<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink.aspx?q=JTXT-0002726960\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">IPC<\/a> and accordingly, dismissed the petition.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\">[<span style=\"font-weight: bold; color: #632423;\">S. Rajadurai v. State (NCT of Delhi), <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/W7g7B1l4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2023 SCC OnLine Del 5919<\/a>, decided on 13-09-2023<\/span>]<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-indent: 18pt;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000080;\">*Judgment authored by- Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Advocates who appeared in this case :<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">For the Petitioner:<\/span> S. Selva Kumari, Advocate;<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin-left: 18pt;\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">For the Respondents<\/span>: Rupali Bandhopadhya ASC for the State with SI Durgesh and Akshay Kumar, Abhijeet Kumar, Varun Kumar, M.D. Jangra and Shitanshu, Advocates.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: #000080;\">Buy Constitution of India &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebcwebstore.com\/product_info.php?products_id=33\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebcwebstore.com\/product_info.php?products_id=33\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Constitution of India\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-294438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india-440x293.jpg 440w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india-650x433.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india.jpg 886w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/constitution-of-india-60x40.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: #000080;\">Buy Penal Code, 1860 &nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebcwebstore.com\/product_info.php?products_id=1158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebcwebstore.com\/product_info.php?products_id=1158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"penal code, 1860\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-294601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860-440x293.jpg 440w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860-650x433.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860.jpg 886w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/penal-code-1860-60x40.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"color: #000080;\">Buy Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 &nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebcwebstore.com\/product_info.php?products_id=1031\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/h3>\n<p style=\"margin-bottom: 3%;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ebcwebstore.com\/product_info.php?products_id=1031\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Code of Criminal Procedure\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-294422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure-440x293.jpg 440w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure-650x433.jpg 650w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure.jpg 886w, https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/code-of-criminal-procedure-60x40.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p style=\"font-style: italic;\">&#8220;The objectivity of the judges is the key to fairness of justice and the decisions have to be objectively determined according to the law of land and not by moral principles of the judge concerned.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67011,"featured_media":293503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[2543,39377,27214,61330,13921,2572],"class_list":["post-302318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-Delhi_High_Court","tag-false-pretext-of-marriage","tag-live-in-relationship","tag-married-adults","tag-married-woman","tag-Rape"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Married woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi HC| SCC Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Delhi High Court opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Delhi High Court opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-09-25T11:30:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-10-03T06:17:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"886\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Editor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/\",\"name\":\"Married woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi HC| SCC Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-25T11:30:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-10-03T06:17:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/84e42bab48238baf12c7e33b3d9761fe\"},\"description\":\"Delhi High Court opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp\",\"width\":886,\"height\":590,\"caption\":\"delhi high court\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/84e42bab48238baf12c7e33b3d9761fe\",\"name\":\"Editor\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e366be721c41333586de05faa13743195f5b142dcd7a015c6fabd2389521d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e366be721c41333586de05faa13743195f5b142dcd7a015c6fabd2389521d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Editor\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_4\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Married woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi HC| SCC Blog","description":"Delhi High Court opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court","og_description":"Delhi High Court opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2023-09-25T11:30:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-10-03T06:17:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":886,"height":590,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Editor","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Editor","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/","name":"Married woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi HC| SCC Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp","datePublished":"2023-09-25T11:30:23+00:00","dateModified":"2023-10-03T06:17:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/84e42bab48238baf12c7e33b3d9761fe"},"description":"Delhi High Court opined that there was no valid basis for Respondent 2 to entertain the notion of promise of a marriage from the petitioner as by virtue of her existing marriage she was ineligible to marry the petitioner and thus quashed the impugned FIR.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp","width":886,"height":590,"caption":"delhi high court"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/09\/25\/delhi-hc-married-woman-cannot-allege-rape-by-partner-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Live-in relationship between married adults not an offence; but woman cannot allege rape by partner on false pretext of marriage: Delhi High Court"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/84e42bab48238baf12c7e33b3d9761fe","name":"Editor","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e366be721c41333586de05faa13743195f5b142dcd7a015c6fabd2389521d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/34e366be721c41333586de05faa13743195f5b142dcd7a015c6fabd2389521d0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Editor"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_4\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/delhi-high-court.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":359889,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/09\/12\/del-hc-educated-woman-aware-of-partners-marriage-not-exploited\/","url_meta":{"origin":302318,"position":0},"title":"Educated woman in relationship, aware of partner\u2019s marital status, cannot be said to be exploited or misled: Delhi High Court","author":"Editor","date":"September 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cIt cannot be held that the complainant had been compelled into a sexual relationship on the false pretext of marriage, particularly when she herself continued to meet the petitioner and maintain sexual relations with him even after becoming aware that he had contracted another marriage\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"woman aware of marital status not exploited","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/woman-aware-of-marital-status-not-exploited.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/woman-aware-of-marital-status-not-exploited.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/woman-aware-of-marital-status-not-exploited.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/woman-aware-of-marital-status-not-exploited.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279875,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/12\/18\/legal-update-legal-news-establishing-relationship-with-another-man-married-woman-cannot-invoke-s-376-ipc\/","url_meta":{"origin":302318,"position":1},"title":"Jharkhand High Court | A married woman cannot invoke section 376(2)(n) of the IPC on the pretext of false promise of marriage","author":"Editor","date":"December 18, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Jharkhand High court held that amarried woman cannot invoke section 376(2)(n) of the IPC, after establishing a relationship with man other than her husband","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jharkhand High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/MicrosoftTeams-image38-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":322078,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/05\/14\/dhc-grants-bail-application-of-accused-in-case-for-having-a-sexual-relationship-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-legal-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":302318,"position":2},"title":"Delhi High Court grants bail to accused for having a sexual relationship on the false pretext of marriage","author":"Editor","date":"May 14, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Court said evidence shows a consensual relationship between two adults where promise to marry may not have been motivating factor for sexual relationship.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Delhi High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Delhi-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":311732,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/01\/18\/delhi-hc-directs-framing-of-rape-charges-against-a-man-who-made-false-promise-of-marriage-to-woman-legal-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":302318,"position":3},"title":"\u2018Case of twin promise of marriage\u2019; Delhi HC directs Sessions Court to frame rape charges against a man for allegedly making false promise of marriage to a woman","author":"Arushi","date":"January 18, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThe cases involving emotional situations where the parties of the story have taken decisions and acted upon them on the basis of peculiar circumstances of their lives, have to be adjudged and adjudicated according to their own peculiarity and situational dissection of facts.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"delhi high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/delhi-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":352425,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/07\/04\/kerala-hc-false-promise-to-marry-by-married-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":302318,"position":4},"title":"Rape on false promise to marry can\u2019t be claimed if both parties aware of existing marriage: Kerala HC","author":"Apoorva","date":"July 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cWhile considering the cases alleging rape based on the promise of marriage, it is difficult for this Court at this juncture to enter a conclusion regarding whether the relationship was consensual or not.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"false promise to marry by married person","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/false-promise-to-marry-by-married-person.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/false-promise-to-marry-by-married-person.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/false-promise-to-marry-by-married-person.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/false-promise-to-marry-by-married-person.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":224675,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/01\/29\/del-hc-acquittal-of-rape-accused-upheld-where-condition-precedent-for-proving-physical-relationship-established-on-false-pretext-of-marriage-found-missing\/","url_meta":{"origin":302318,"position":5},"title":"Del HC | Acquittal of rape accused upheld where condition precedent for proving physical relationship established on false pretext of marriage found missing","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"January 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Delhi High Court:\u00a0A Division Bench of Manmohan and Sangita Dhingra Sehgal, JJ., dismissed a criminal leave petition filed by the State against the order of the trial court whereby it had acquitted the respondent who was accused of raping the prosecutrix (victim). The respondent was accused of committing rape on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67011"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/302318\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}