Andhra Pradesh High Court - Amravati
Unknown vs State (Nct Of Delhi) on 30 August, 2024
HIGH COURT OF ANDHRA PRADESH:: AMARAVATI
MAIN CASE NO.: Crl.A.No.540 of 2024
PROCEEDING SHEET
Sl. Date ORDER OFFICE
No. NOTE
1. 30.08.2024 VJP,J
I.A.No.1 of 2024
This petition is filed seeking suspension of
sentence of imprisonment of ten years imposed
against Accused No.1 in S.C.No.113 of 2022 for the
offences 376, 417, 323 and 506 read with 34 of the
IPC and Section 3(2)(va) of the SC and ST(PoA)
Amendment Act, 2015.
Heard Sri G.Nagasatyanarayana, learned
counsel for the petitioner and Ms.K.Priyanka
Lakshmi, learned Assistant Public Prosecutor on
behalf of the State.
Learned counsel for the petitioner would
submit that there is no material on record to attract
the offence punishable under Section 376 of the
IPC. The defacto complainant and Accused No.1
reside in one locality. Defacto complainant having
knowledge that Accused No.1 is a married person
had close acquaintance with him and alleged to
have delivered a deceased baby. Learned counsel
further would submit that Accused No.1 got married Contd..
her. As per the case of the prosecution when the
defacto complainant joined Accused No.1 along with
his 1st wife, the disputes arose between the two
wives. That is the reason for lodging the complaint
against Accused No.1 and others.
Learned counsel to buttress his contention
placed reliance on Judgment of Hon'ble Apex Court
in NAIM AHAMED VS. STATE (NCT OF DELHI)1,
stating that having sexual intercourse with a woman
on assurance of marriage does not amount to rape
since it is a concession that the woman has every
knowledge about the act and its consequences.
It is not helpful to the case of the petitioner
since it is observed in Para-20 that:-
20. The bone of the contention raised on
behalf of the respondents is that the
prosecutrix had given her consent for sexual
relationship under the misconception of fact,
as the accused had given a false promise to
marry her and subsequently he did not marry,
and therefore such consent was no consent in
the eye of law and the case fell under the
Clause - Secondly of Section 375 IPC. In this
regard, it is pertinent to note that there is a
Contd...
difference between giving a false promise and
Criminal Appeal No.257 of 2023
committing breach of promise by the accused.
In case of false promise, the accused right
from the beginning would not have any
intention to marry the prosecutrix and would
have cheated or deceited the prosecutrix by
giving a false promise to marry her only with a
view to satisfy his lust, whereas in case of
breach of promise, one cannot deny a
possibility that the accused might have given
a promise with all seriousness to marry her,
and subsequently might have encountered
certain circumstances unforeseen by him or
the circumstances beyond his control, which
prevented him to fulfill his promise. So, it
would be a folly to treat each breach of
promise to marry as a false promise and to
prosecute a person for the offence under
Section 376. As stated earlier, each case
would depend upon its proved facts before
the court."
Learned Assistant Public Prosecutor
vehemently opposed the petition stating that victim
was beaten by Accused No.2 and others when she
was pregnant and she delivered a deceased baby.
Accused No.1 denied the paternity of the child but
the DNA report would clearly show that he is the Contd...
biological father of the deceased baby.
In the light of the observations made supra, it
is not desirable to suspend the sentence of
imprisonment passed against the Accused No.1 and
petition is liable to be dismissed.
In the result, the Criminal Petition is
dismissed.
______
VJP, J
Admit.
List the mater in usual course.
______
VJP, J
JLV
