‘Refusal to marry after years of sexual relationship isn’t cheating’: Bombay HC acquits man after 25 years – India Today

After 25 years, a Palghar man was let off from a case of cheating wherein a woman had alleged that he had a sexual relationship with her on the pretext of marrying her.

The Bombay High Court let off the man, saying that since there was no “evidence to prove that the woman had consented to physical relationship on a misconception of fact…the mere refusal to marry would not constitute an offence under Section 417 of the IPC”.

The woman had lodged an FIR in 1996, alleging that the accused had a sexual relationship with her on the pretext of marriage. He subsequently declined to marry her, the woman alleged in the FIR.

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Based on the FIR lodged by the woman, a case was registered against the accused for offences punishable under sections 376 (rape) and 417 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code.

During the trial, the accused denied all the allegations levelled against him.

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After three years of trial, the additional sessions judge in Palghar held the accused guilty of offences punishable under Section 417 of the IPC. He was then sentenced to imprisonment for one year and a fine of Rs 5,000 was imposed on him.

During the trial, the prosecution had examined eight witnesses, including the woman.

She revealed to the court that the accused was known to her. She said that she had a sexual relationship with the accused for over three years. Even her sister told the court that there was a love affair between the two.

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Justice Anuja Prabhudessai of the Bombay High Court said while examining the appeal filed by the accused that the evidence on record indicated that the sexual relationship between the two was consensual.

“The accused has been held guilty of an offence under Section 417 of the IPC solely for the reason that he refused to marry the prosecutrix. The question is whether in such circumstances refusal to marry constitutes an offence of cheating,” said Justice Prabhudesai.

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Examining the issue further, Justice Prabhudessai noted that the evidence of the woman did not indicate that she had sexual relationship with the accused under a misconception of fact, with regard to the promise of marriage or that her consent was based on fraudulent misrepresentation of marriage.

“There is no evidence on record to indicate that since the inception, the accused did not intend to marry her. In the absence of evidence to prove that the woman had consented to a physical relationship on a misconception of fact, as stipulated under Section 90 of IPC, the mere refusal to marry would not constitute an offence under Section 417 of the IPC,” said Justice Prabhudessai.

With this, the high court appeal was allowed and the impugned judgment of the Palghar sessions court was quashed and set aside.