On Monday, April 7, Supreme Court quashed a case of rape, cheating and intimidation against an ex-Judge. The case was filed by a woman who claimed that she was sexually exploited by the man on the pretext of marriage.
However, the Bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma observed that the relationship between the parties was consensual and that the woman was fully aware that the man was already married to someone else.
The man has retired as a judicial officer but was a judge in Haldia, West Bengal, when the case was filed in 2015.
Calcutta High Court refused to discharge the man from the case in February 2024, but now the Supreme Court bench has noted that it was a consensual relationship that turned sour.
“We find that there is a growing tendency of resorting to initiation of criminal proceedings when relationships turn sour. Every consensual relationship, where a possibility of marriage may exist, cannot be given a colour of a false pretext to marry, in the event of a fall out,” the judgement said.
