The Supreme Court has quashed the conviction of a man in a rape case, noting the complainant and the convict have married each other and observed that the consensual relationship between the parties was given a criminal colour owing to a misunderstanding.
A Bench of Justices B. V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma said that when the matter came up before the top court, after considering the facts of the case, "we had a sixth sense that the appellant and the respondent prosecutrix could be brought together once again if they decided to marry each other".
It noted the parties had married each other in July this year and had been residing together since then.
"This is one of those rare cases where, on the intervention of this court, the appellant herein, who had applied to seek suspension of his sentence, was ultimately benefited by quashing of his conviction as well as the sentence," the bench said in its December 5 verdict.
The top court delivered its verdict on an appeal by the man challenging an April 2024 Madhya Pradesh High Court order rejecting his application seeking suspension of the sentence. A trial court had convicted the man in the case and sentenced him to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years along with a ₹55,000 fine.
