Promise of Marriage Must Be Fraudulent At Inception To Vitiate Consent Under Section 375 IPC

The victim filed a complaint alleging that the appellant, a co-villager, established a physical relationship with her over one year by promising marriage. When the victim became pregnant, the appellant refused to marry her and married another woman instead

The Trial Court convicted the appellant under Section 376(1) of the IPC, sentencing him to seven years of rigorous imprisonment

The appellant challenged this, arguing the relationship was consensual between two adults

Evidence showed a village meeting (panchayati) was held regarding the pregnancy, and medical records confirmed the victim was roughly 19 years old and eight weeks pregnant at the time of examination

1. Whether a breach of a promise to marry after a prolonged consensual relationship constitutes "misconception of fact" under Section 90 of the IPC so as to vitiate consent for the purpose of Section 375

2. Whether the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that the appellant was responsible for the victim's pregnancy through scientific evidence

The court applied Section 375 of the IPC defining rape and Section 90 regarding consent given under a misconception of fact

It relied on precedents such as Pramod Suryabhan Pawar v. State of Maharashtra and Mahesh Damu Khare v. State of Maharashtra, which distinguish between a "false promise" (made with no intention to fulfill it at inception) and a "breach of promise" (made in good faith but later unfulfilled)

The court underscored that for consent to be vitiated, the false promise must have a direct nexus to the decision to engage in the sexual act and must be the primary inducing factor

The court reasoned that since the victim was a major (approx. 19-21 years old) and the relationship spanned a year, she was capable of understanding the consequences of her actions

Following the Deepak Gulati and Naim Ahamed rulings, the court found that a long-term physical relationship suggests mutual passion rather than a decision based solely on a fraudulent promise

Most critically, the prosecution failed to provide a scientific link between the appellant and the pregnancy; the DNA profiling of the foetus did not match the appellant

In the absence of this link and evidence of deceptive intent at the inception of the relationship, the court determined the acts were consensual

The Court held that the prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt due to the lack of scientific DNA evidence and the consensual nature of the adult relationship

The appeal was allowed, the conviction and sentence dated 19.12.2013 were set aside, and the appellant was acquitted of all charges