The Delhi High Court has issued a notice to the Delhi government on a plea seeking to quash an FIR for offence of rape, in which the parties pleaded that they have amicably resolved the issue and are now living as husband and wife.
The couple, in their petition, has pleaded that they will lead a happy married life if the FIR, which was filed in March 2017 when the girl was a minor aged 16 years, is quashed.
The girl said she was “deeply in love” with the man, who was then 21-year-old, when she filed the FIR. She admitted that she filed the complaint due to some “miscommunication, misinformation and ill advice” in an attempt to secure her relationship and marriage.
The girl, in her complaint registered at a local police station, had claimed that the man convinced her to get into a sexual relationship with her on the pretext of marrying her but he did not do the same.
The man was arrested in the present case on July 21, 2018, and while in the judicial custody, he was granted an interim bail for a period of 14 days in order to enable the couple to marry. Then, the mother of the girl had filed an affidavit stating that she had no objection to the grant of interim bail to the man.
The couple got married on December 10, 2019, at Arya Samaj Vedic Trust. Subsequently, the man was granted regular bail in the case.
The petition claimed that the couple is leading a marital life and the trial in the case is acting as a thorn and stopping it from making it a “Happy Ever After” case.
The FIR contained serious charges against the man, including Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 6 (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
However, the couple argued that the case prima facie is the dispute between them and there are no other parties involved. “Thus, even though under the public law regime that is followed in the country it may be categorised as a crime against society, the nature of the present case is completely private,” the plea said.
The couple stated that till date only the prosecutrix has been examined and the entire trial is pending which may take several years to conclude.
Taking note of the submission, Justice Mukta Gupta directed the Delhi government to submit its stand on the issue before the next date of hearing on February 11, next year.
