A woman cannot accuse a man of having deceived her by having sex on multiple occasions on the promise of marrying her if their relationship had gone to the extent of performing betrothal with the consent of both their families but a rift had occurred thereafter, the Madras High Court has ruled.
Justice N. Sathish Kumar ruled so while quashing a First Information Report registered at an All Women Police Station in Ambattur in Chennai early this year on the basis of a complaint lodged by a pilot accusing her colleague of having cheated her after a sexual relationship between 2013 and 2021.
The judge pointed out that even according to the complainant, it was decided by the families of both the individuals to perform their marriage in January this year and accordingly a betrothal ceremony was conducted in September 2021. Thereafter, things did not go through due to various reasons.
“Therefore, it cannot be stated that deception has been played by the petitioner from the very inception,” the judge said and allowed the petition filed by T. Rahul Anand to quash the FIR registered against him. He also said that continuing the prosecution would be nothing but an abuse of process of law.
Justice Kumar said, the courts would generally be slow in quashing FIRs that make out cognisable offences and would not interfere unless materials produced before it disclose that the FIR was motivated and had been instituted maliciously. In the present case, it appeared to serve no purpose but to harass the petitioner.
“The petitioner and the complainant were having an affair for more than 10 years and knowingly they indulged in sexual acts and there is no deception at all from the very inception... WhatsApp and Facebook chats clearly indicate that nothing can be inferred to say deception has been played by the petitioner from the very inception,” the judge wrote.
