The Supreme Court in its recent hearing ruled that a woman in a long-term extramarital relationship cannot accuse a man of rape based on the promise of marriage.The decision came while hearing a seven-year-old case.

Overturning the seven-year-old case filed by Vanita S Jadhav against Mahesh Damu at Khareat Kharghar police station in Mumbai the Supreme Court stated that, “There is a worrying trend that consensual relationships going on for prolonged periods, upon turning sour, have been sought to be criminalized.”

The court stated that if a woman is deceived into a sexual relationship under the promise of marriage, she must file a complaint of breach of promise promptly, and not after continuing the relationship for years.

The FIR states that Khare, a married man, and Jadhav, a widow, began their relationship around 16 years ago, in 2008. Jadhav accused Khare of raping her under the false promise of marriage.

At the same time, Khare's wife filed an extortion case against Jadhav.The Supreme Court ruled that if a woman willingly continues a physical relationship for a long period, it cannot be definitively said that the relationship was based solely on Khare's alleged promise of marriage.

SC ruling in 2003 case involving false promise of marriage

A similar case was filed in 2003 but it involved the caste system. In Uday v State of Karnataka case, Uday appealed against a high court ruling that found him guilty of rape. The woman filed the case, saying she had sex with him because she loved him and he promised to marry her. However, after she got pregnant, he kept making excuses and never married her. When the baby was born and Uday still had not married her, she filed a complaint.

The woman, from the Goundar community (OBC) was aware of the fact that marriage might not happen because of their caste differences. The Supreme Court ruled that since she agreed to the relationship willingly and knowingly, there was no rape.