Can't Use Courts For Pressuring Accused To Get Married: Delhi High Court

The Courts cannot be used as matrimonial facilitators for the purpose of pressurizing the accused to get married to the victim or be denied bail or by the accused for obtaining bail by asking the complainant to appear before the Court and state that he was ready to get married to her, stated Delhi High Court while dismissed anticipatory bail to an accused in FIR registered for offences punishable under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC).

Needless to say, the judicial system cannot be used either to settle scores with each other or pressure any party to act in a particular manner to reach one's goal, said the Court.

The bench of Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma in an order passed on September 4, 2023, stated that this Court cannot know whether the statement made by the complainant before the authorities throughout and before the Magistrate and the stand of the accused before the learned Trial Court was correct, true and uninfluenced stand or the later stand of both of them before the Trial Court and this Court is uninfluenced or not.

Considering the overall facts and circumstances of the case, this Court does not find it a fit case to grant anticipatory bail as the case has travelled from the point of lodging of the FIR till the present point of investigation. The truth has to prevail by investigating allegations for which custodial interrogation of the accused may be required for the purpose of confronting the complainant and also the accused to reach the truth, said the Court.

According to the Delhi Police FIR, the victim has levelled allegations that the victim was employed in Delhi and she had come in contact with the applicant/accused in the year 2015 who was employed in Dibrugarh, Assam and they used to interact during the course of their employment and job requirements.

It was alleged by the victim that initially she had rejected the advances made by the applicant/accused but upon regular insistence of the applicant, she had agreed to become friends with her after about four-five years and they had started talking to each other regularly through phone calls and video calls.

It was also alleged that on 20.02.2021, the applicant had taken her to a hotel where physical relations were established between them on the pretext of marriage. It was also alleged that the accused/applicant had also taken her to a temple in Najafgarh where he had given the impression that they were married, and he had again promised her that they would get married properly later.

Thereafter, on this pretext, he had established physical relations with her on several occasions. It is also alleged that the victim had requested the applicant several times to get married in the Court (civil marriage), however, he had kept sexually exploiting her on one or the other pretext.

It was also alleged that later on, he had stopped receiving her phone calls and had refused to get married to her. Therefore, on these allegations, the present FIR was registered on 30.06.2023 under Sections 376 of IPC, stated Delhi Police.

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