Women Filed False Rape Case After a Failed Marriage Engagement: How SPJ Advocates Got Anticipatory Bail and Quashing of the FIR.
What Was the Case
Our Delhi based client was in a relationship with a woman for almost three years. Couple families knew about the relationship from the start. Both families visited each other's homes for marriage discussion.
Trouble started when the wedding talks began seriously. The woman's family made some demands about the wedding arrangements that our client's family could not meet. After many bitter arguments, the marriage talks stopped, and the relationship ended completely.
A few weeks later, the woman's family filed an FIR against our client. The FIR was filed under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (rape) and Section 69 BNS, which deals with sexual intercourse by cheating means, such as a false promise of marriage. The FIR also added Section 351 BNS (criminal intimidation), alleging that our client had threatened the woman.
The complaint said that our client had promised marriage only to build a physical relationship and never intended to marry her at all. Our client denied this completely. He said the relationship was genuine, both families were involved from day one, and the wedding only fell apart over a dispute about wedding arrangements, not because he never intended to marry her.
He came to us within two days of the FIR, and worried about arrest.
What Made This Case Difficult
- In Rape cases, a person’s reputation can suffer serious damage. Even before the court gives its decision, people may start judging them, and this damage to their reputation can be difficult to repair
- Courts takes Sexual Assualt cases very seriously. Getting bail in a case under Section 64 BNS is very difficult than in most other offences.
- The complaint said the promise of marriage was false from the very beginning. Proving otherwise meant we had to show three years of a real, ongoing relationship — not just a few weeks.
- The complaint said our client never intended to marry her from the very beginning. The marriage promise was fake from day one. To prove this wrong, we had to show evidence of three years of a real relationship, not just a few weeks.
- There was a high chance of arrest, and possible physical harassment in police custody, within days of the FIR.
- The complainant's family had strong support from her community, which put social and emotional pressure on our client.
How SPJ Advocates Handled It
Month 1 — Anticipatory Bail Protection
- We filed an anticipatory bail application within three days of the FIR, before our client could be arrested.
- We collected three years of WhatsApp chats, call records, and photographs showing the relationship was known to both families from the beginning.
- We submitted videos and photographs of family visits, engagement-related shopping, and conversations between both families about the wedding date.
- The court granted anticipatory bail, with conditions to join the investigation and not to leave the country.
Months 2–6 —Gathering Evidence to Defend the Client
- We gathered evidence that our client's family had visited the woman's house at least four times to discuss the wedding, supported by date wise photos and one family member's written statement.
- We collected bank records that showed our client's family had sent engagement gifts. along with messages discussing about booking a wedding hall, which was later cancelled.
- We used two Supreme Court cases judgement — Deepak Gulati v. State of Haryana and Pramod Suryabhan Pawar v. State of Maharashtra, which says if a person marriage promise is genuine at the time he made and the marriage failed later due to real reasons, it cannot be considered as a "false promise."
- We filed a detailed reply before the Police Investigating Officer, provided all required evidence on record.
Months 7–10 — Police Investigation and Closure Push
- The Police Investigating Officer's found in his inquiry that both families had genuinely discussed about marriage for three years. The break-up happened only after a dispute over wedding demands.
- We pushed the police to close the case. We argued that this matter was just a broken engagement, not a case of false promise to cheat someone.
- We stayed in regular contact with the IO's to prevent delay in the investigation.
Months 11–12 — Quashing the Case
- We know that the chargesheet was weak. So we filed a petition before the High Court, under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (this is the new version of the old Section 482 CrPC) to quash the FIR.
- We presented the three-year record before the High Court — the family visits, the wedding planning, the gifts, and the cancelled wedding Hall bookings.
- The High Court agreed that this was a case of a broken engagement, not a false promise made to cheat her, and quashed the FIR.
The Result
The case was fully closed within 12 months. Our client did not spend a single day in custody. The final quashing order cleared his name completely on record.
Facing a false rape or sexual assault FIR? Call SPJ Advocates at +91-8920245815 immediately to protect your rights and your name.
