Bombay HC Quashes Rape FIR Against Tour Manager, Cites Malicious Misuse Of Criminal Law

Mumbai, June 20: Observing that the criminal justice system cannot be used as a tool for harassment, the Bombay High Court has quashed a rape case lodged against a tour manager, holding that the complainant had a pattern of filing similar complaints against multiple individuals and that the present prosecution amounted to a “malafide and malicious misuse of the process of law”.

The court also directed the Maharashtra Police to exercise caution and conduct a preliminary inquiry before registering any future complaints made by the complainant.

Justice Ranjitsinha Raja Bhonsale allowed the petition filed by a man challenging the FIR registered at Sahar Police Station in 2019 under Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code.

Allegations and court observations

The complainant had alleged that she met the man during a trip to Malaysia and Singapore in June 2019. According to the FIR, the tour manager promised to marry her and established physical relations with her without her consent. She later approached the police after the marriage did not take place.

Petitioner’s advocate Arjun Kadam pointed out that the complainant had filed 10 FIRs against different individuals over the years, including several alleging rape on the false promise of marriage. Some of these cases had resulted in acquittals, while others had been quashed by courts.

Also, the woman was married twice and had filed cases of cruelty against her husband. At the time of lodging the FIR against the tour manager in 2019, she was reportedly still married.

“The malafide intentions are writ large on the face of the record,” the court observed, adding that the complainant’s conduct “prima facie appears to be malafide and her acts a complete abuse of the process of law”.

Pattern of complaints examined

The court also took note of the fact that the complainant had remained absent in several proceedings initiated by her and had failed to pursue them. “One cannot rule out the possibility of Respondent No. 2 (woman) blackmailing the accused/victims,” it said.

Referring to Supreme Court judgments on cases involving false promises of marriage, the High Court reiterated that every failed relationship cannot be treated as rape.

“The mere fact that the parties indulge in a physical relationship pursuant to promise to marry will not and cannot amount to rape in every case,” the court said.

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Holding that the allegations did not make out an offence of rape, the court quashed the FIR and directed Maharashtra Police to exercise caution and conduct a preliminary inquiry before registering any future complaints made by the complainant.

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