Bombay High Court: In an interesting judgment, a bench comprising of Ranjit More and Anuja Prabhudessai, JJ quashed a rape charge after the victim stated that the accused had agreed to marry her and that they had settled the dispute amicably. In the present case, the victim admitted in court that she had a consensual physical relationship with the accused and had filed the rape charges only because he had refused to marry her. She further confirmed in Court that she has no objection for quashing the criminal proceedings initiated by her against the accused.
The Court relying on the Supreme Court judgment of Narinder Singh vs State of Punjab, (2014) 6 SCC 466, wherein a serious offence was quashed, noted that if this case was continued, it would hamper the healthy relationship between the petitioner and the respondent, and they would be put to unnecessary hardship of attending to the police and courts. The Court also observed that no purpose would be served by keeping the FIR and criminal proceeding against the petitioner except burdening the criminal courts which are already overburdened. Jaya D. Ovhal vs. State of Maharashtra, 2015 SCC OnLine Bom 3482, decided on 11-06-2015
