Supreme Court: Failed Relationships Cannot Be Automatically Turned Into Rape Cases; Consensual Intimacy Cannot Be Recast as Crime

Discharging a Kerala man accused of rape and cheating, Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan distinguish between consensual relationships that collapse and sexual consent obtained through deliberate deception

The Supreme Court has cautioned against the growing tendency to initiate criminal proceedings following the breakdown of consensual relationships, observing that sexual intimacy during a functioning relationship cannot retrospectively be branded as rape merely because the relationship has soured.

A Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan made the observations while discharging Kerala resident Santosh Kumar NP from charges of rape and cheating. The court emphasised that a failed relationship, by itself, cannot become the basis for criminal prosecution when the physical relationship was consensual.

The Bench stressed that courts must distinguish between cases in which sexual consent was obtained through deliberate deception from the outset and situations in which individuals develop regret after a consensual relationship comes to an end.

“In such cases, physical intimacy that occurred during the currency of a functioning relationship cannot be retrospectively branded as an act of rape merely because the relationship soured and no longer subsists,” the Supreme Court observed.

'Does a Man Have No Right to Withdraw From a Relationship?'

The Supreme Court underscored that individuals have the freedom to discontinue personal relationships and that a decision to walk away cannot automatically be characterised as deception or fraud.

“In such a scenario, can it be said that the man has no right to withdraw from the relationship? Can the decision be termed as deceit or fraud? Clearly not,” the Bench observed.

It further pointed out that treating a person as permanently bound to a relationship because of earlier consensual intimacy would effectively take away their freedom to decide whether they wish to continue it.

The court cautioned that retrospective reconsideration of consensual sexual relations, solely because a relationship did not work out, could expose individuals to criminal prosecution, threaten their personal liberty and cause lasting damage to their reputation.

'Converting Every Failed Relationship Into Rape Case Dilutes Gravity of Offence'

Highlighting the seriousness of rape allegations, the Bench observed that criminal law must be invoked in cases involving actual sexual violence, coercion or manipulation of consent, rather than being used to criminalise every failed relationship.

“When every consensual relationship which sours is converted into an accusation of rape it dilutes the gravity of the offence alleged or rather negates the very allegation of crime,” the court said.

The Supreme Court noted that it had repeatedly encountered cases in which the breakdown of personal relationships was followed by criminal complaints.

However, it clarified that this observation does not mean that every sexual relationship described as consensual must automatically be treated as lawful. The circumstances in which consent was obtained remain crucial to determining whether an offence has been committed.

Supreme Court Distinguishes Deception From Regret After Consensual Intimacy

The Bench drew a distinction between consensual intimacy followed by a relationship breakdown and cases in which consent is legally invalid because it was obtained through fraud or deliberate misrepresentation.

The court stressed that these two categories cannot be treated alike while examining rape allegations arising from intimate relationships.

Where deception exists from the beginning and directly affects the validity of consent, the matter requires a different legal examination. However, a subsequent decision to end a consensual relationship cannot, by itself, establish that the original intimacy amounted to rape.

Kerala Man Accused of Concealing First Marriage

The observations came in an appeal filed by Santosh Kumar NP, who challenged the Kerala High Court's refusal to allow his discharge application and quash the criminal proceedings against him.

According to the prosecution, the complainant alleged that Santosh Kumar had concealed his existing marriage before entering into a second marriage with her.

The woman, who had previously been divorced, claimed that the accused had induced her to believe that their marriage was legally valid despite his first marriage allegedly still subsisting.

She alleged that he concealed his marital status, married her and subsequently established a physical relationship with her on the basis of consent obtained through the allegedly unlawful marriage.

The prosecution invoked charges of rape, cheating and criminal breach of trust, alleging that the accused had misrepresented his marital circumstances to secure her consent.

Couple Allegedly Lived Together Between 1996 and 2003

According to the prosecution's account, the two got married in Mysore and lived together between 1996 and 2003.

The complainant alleged that the accused's concealment of his existing marital status had deprived her of the opportunity to make an informed decision about the marriage and the subsequent physical relationship.

Challenging the criminal proceedings, Santosh Kumar approached the Supreme Court after the Kerala High Court rejected his plea for discharge and quashing of the case.

The Supreme Court ultimately discharged him from the rape and cheating charges, reiterating that the criminal law must distinguish between deliberate deception that vitiates consent and consensual intimacy that takes place during a relationship that subsequently fails.