After 27 yrs, SC clears man of rape charges

The Supreme Court has set aside the conviction of a man who underwent a 27-year-long legal ordeal for allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman — who is now his wife of 21 years and the mother of their four children — noting that continuing to uphold his conviction would cause greater injustice, given the peculiar circumstances of the case.

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

“Bearing in mind the fact that in this case, the appellant-accused has subsequently married the second respondent-prosecutrix and they have four children out of their wedlock, we find that the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case would persuade us to exercise our jurisdiction and powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India,” held a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma.

Article 142 which allows it to pass orders necessary to do “complete justice” in a case. The court noted that quashing the conviction was the only fair outcome in light of the couple’s two-decade-long marriage and the ground reality of their relationship.

The man was convicted for kidnapping and raping the woman in 1997, when she was reportedly a minor. Despite his conviction by a trial court and a seven-year jail term — a decision that was affirmed by the Chhattisgarh high court in 2019, the two later married in 2003 and built a family together.