Refusal To Marry After Physical Relationship Not Cheating, Rules Bombay High Court

Mumbai: The Bombay Hight Court has ruled that refusal to marry a woman after sharing a physical relationship for a long time with mutual consent does not amount to cheating.

This ruling comes after a woman lodged an FIR against a man alleging him of having a physical relationship on the pretext of marriage but subsequently declining to marry her.

The High Court's verdict came after it overturned a lower court order convicting the accused of cheating based on the FIR filed by the woman.

The High Court gave a clean chit to the man citing lack of evidence to prove that the accused did not intend to marry her since inception.

"The evidence of PW1- Prosecutrix reveals that the accused was known to her. She had a sexual relationship with the accused for over about 3 years. Evidence of PW2- sister of the prosecutrix also reveals that there was a love affair between the accused and the prosecutrix. The evidence on record thus indicates that the sexual relationship between the prosecutrix and the accused was consensual. The accused has been held guilty of an offence under Section 417 of the IPC solely for the reason that he refused to marry the prosecutrix. The question is whether in such circumstances refusal to marry constitutes an offence of cheating," the High Court said in its judgement.

"There is no evidence on record to indicate that since the inception, accused did not intend to marry her. In the absence of evidence to prove that the prosecutrix had consented for physical relationship on a misconception of fact, as stipulated under Section 90 of IPC, the mere refusal to marry would not constitute an offence under Section 417 of the IPC." the HC further added.

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