Criminal Law — False Promise of Marriage · 20 April 2026

Shaileshbhai Govindbhai Makwana v. State of Maharashtra: Supreme Court Quashes False-Promise-of-Marriage Rape Case Where Both Parties Were Already Married

Supreme Court of India · 2026 LiveLaw (SC) 459; SLP (Crl.) No. 2260/2026

The complainant said she was married in 1998 and had been living apart from her husband since 2012. In 2017, before her divorce was finalised, she created a profile on a matrimonial website seeking a second marriage. She said the appellant contacted her through it and promised to marry her, that on 17 October 2017 he visited, stayed two to three days and had sexual intercourse, including unnatural intercourse, against her will, and that the relationship then continued for years, with the two travelling together and staying in hotels. When she pressed for marriage in February 2021 he refused, and she lodged an FIR under Sections 376(2)(n), 377 and 506 IPC alleging she was drawn into the relationship on a promise of marriage. The Bombay High Court refused to quash the case because an earlier quashing petition had been withdrawn and the allegations needed a trial.

A Bench of Justice K.V. Viswanathan and Justice Manmohan set that aside and quashed the proceedings. It held the High Court should not have refused merely because an earlier plea was withdrawn without a decision on merits, once it found no offence was made out. It noted that both parties knew they were previously married, that the complainant had sought remarriage before her own divorce was final, that they kept a physical relationship over several years between 2017 and 2020, and that the alleged forcible incident of October 2017 was not reported until February 2021 despite continued contact. The Court held this was not a case of a false promise of marriage leading to deception.

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