Pramod Kumar Navratna vs State of Chhattisgarh 2026 INSC 124 - Rape - Promise To Marry - Marital Status Of Victim

Indian Penal Code 1860 - Section 375,376 - The complainant was herself a married woman with a subsisting marriage and a child -Quashing FIR - SC held: Both parties were aware about the marital status of the victim and therefore it cannot be, by any stretch imagination said that the consent of the complainant has been vitiated or obtained on fraud and misrepresentation made by the accused- such a promise would not be legally enforceable or even capable of being acted upon as the victim herself was not eligible for marriage, neither on the date of the first alleged act of offence nor on any subsequent dates wherein the parties indulged in the sexual activities, till the point of the date of registration of FIR.

Hindu Marriage Act,1955 - Section 5 ; Special Marriage Act, 1954 - Section 4 - The law prohibits bigamous unions and therefore disallows parties from entering into a second marriage during the subsistence of their first marriage. (Para 19-20)

Indian Penal Code 1860 - Section 376(2)(n): Essential ingredients to constitute the said offence i.e. there should be a promise of marriage made by the accused solely with a view to obtain consent for sexual relations and without having any intent of fulfilling said promise from the very beginning, and that such false promise of marriage had a direct bearing on the prosecutrix giving her consent for sexual relations. Such genuine cases that deserve prosecution of the accused must be clearly demarcated from the litigation that arises from the cases of consensual relationships between consenting adults going acrimonious on account of dispute and disagreement or a future change of mind - The expression “repeatedly” contemplates more than one act of sexual assault, committed at different points in time on the same victim - This means a series of acts that are separate in nature and not a continuation of a single transaction. In genuine cases under Section 376(2)(n) of the IPC, the pattern is usually unmistakable; it is an initial act of sexual assault, followed by multiple acts under fear, pressure, captivity, or continued deceit, often when the woman is rendered vulnerable and unable to escape the situation. (Para 16)

the law prohibits bigamous unions and therefore disallows parties from entering into a second marriage during the subsistence of their first marriage.