Classic case of consensual relationship turning acrimonious: Supreme Court quashes FIR alleging rape

Supreme Court quashes FIR alleging rape, citing a consensual relationship gone sour, emphasising caution in criminalising personal disputes.

The Supreme Court on Thursday (February 5, 2026) quashed an FIR alleging rape on the false pretext of marriage, saying the facts unmistakably indicate a classic case of a consensual relationship turning acrimonious.

A bench of Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan observed that the parties should have exercised restraint and refrained from involving the State in their personal relationship turning rancour.

The apex court referred to some of its earlier verdicts, including one that had taken note of the disquieting tendency wherein failed or broken relationships are given the colour of criminality.

The bench delivered its verdict on an appeal challenging a March last year order of the Chhattisgarh High Court that had refused to quash the proceedings arising out of the FIR registered in Bilaspur district in February 2025.

The court noted that both the complainant and the accused in the case were lawyers, and the former was a 33-year-old married woman and the mother of a minor.

“It has been time and again settled by this court that the mere fact that the parties indulged in physical relations pursuant to a promise to marry will not amount to a rape in every case,” the Bench said.