Calling Failed Relationships Rape Trivialises the Offence: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of India has reiterated an important legal and societal principle: not every failed or emotionally strained relationship can be criminalised as rape . In a significant judgment, a bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R. Mahadevan quashed an FIR and charge sheet accusing a Maharashtra-based lawyer of rape and criminal intimidation, holding that the case involved a consensual long-term relationship which later turned bitter. This article examines the factual background, the Court’s reasoning, the legal provisions involved, and the judicial precedents that shaped this landmark ruling. Factual Background of the Case A woman had initially approached the lawyer for assistance in a maintenance case. Over time, the two entered into a long-term intimate relationship spanning nearly three years. The relationship later deteriorated. Subsequently, the woman filed an FIR alleging: Rape under Section 376 IPC Repeated rape under Section 376(2)(n) IPC Criminal intimid...