Orissa High Court
Kunal Behera vs State Of Odisha .... Opposite Party(S) on 9 May, 2025
Author: S.K. Panigrahi
Bench: S.K. Panigrahi
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK
BLAPL No.2425 of 2025
Kunal Behera .... Petitioner(s)
Mr. Kedar Chandra Sarangi, Adv.
-versus-
State of Odisha .... Opposite Party(s)
Mr. Pradipta Satapathy, ASC
CORAM:
HON'BLE DR.JUSTICE S.K. PANIGRAHI
Order ORDER
No. 09.05.2025
F.I.R. Dated Police Case No. and Sections
No. Station Courts' Name
0198 17.10.2024 Mohana S.T. Case Sections 64, 318(2),
No.04/2025 pending 351(3), 115(2) and 3(5)
in the Court of of the Bharatiya Nyaya
learned Addl. Sanhita
Sessions Judge,
Paralakhemundi
arising out of G.R.
Case No.294 of 2024
and further arising
out of Mohana P.S.
Case No.198 of 2024
of learned J.M.F.C,
Mohana
01. 1. This matter is taken up through hybrid arrangement.
2. Heard learned counsel for the Petitioner and learned
counsel for the State.
3. The Petitioner being in custody in connection with S.T.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed
Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA
Designation: Personal Assistant
Reason: Authentication
Case No.04/2025 pending in the Court of learned Addl.
Location: High Court of Orissa
Date: 28-May-2025 12:26:48
Page 1 of 6
Sessions Judge, Paralakhemundi arising out of G.R. Case
No.294 of 2024 and further arising out of Mohana P.S. Case
No.198 of 2024 of learned J.M.F.C, Mohana registered for
the alleged commission of offence under Sections Sections
64, 318(2), 351(3), 115(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya
Sanhita, has filed this application for his release on bail.
4. The brief fact of the case is that after giving assurance of
marriage the Petitioner kept physical relationship with the
victim/informant. Thereafter, at some point of time the
Petitioner has also taken some money from the informant.
After keeping physical relationship and taking money
from the informant since the Petitioner denied to get
married with the informant, the informant lodged an F.I.R.
before the local Police Station. Accordingly, upon lodging
of the F.I.R and completion of investigation the Petitioner
was arrested and has been languishing in custody since
19.10.2024.
5. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the
Petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case.
There is also no credible material on record to connect him
to the alleged offenses. The Petitioner has been in custody
since 19.10.2024. In light of these facts, learned counsel for
the Petitioner prays for releasing the Petitioner on bail, as
continued detention is unjustified in the absence of
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed substantial evidence.
Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA
Designation: Personal Assistant
Reason: Authentication
Location: High Court of Orissa
Date: 28-May-2025 12:26:48
Page 2 of 6
6. Learned counsel for the State vehemently opposes the
bail application, contending that the Petitioner is an
accused of serious and heinous offenses. It is submitted
that the Petitioner established physical relationship with
the victim under false assurances of marriage. Given the
egregious nature of allegations and the potential for
evidence tampering, learned counsel for the State strongly
opposes grant of bail to the Petitioner.
7. This Court finds it necessary to observe that in cases
pertaining to the allegations of sexual offences arising
from relationships developed on the basis of a purported
promise of marriage, the issue of consent must be
approached with careful consideration. While the law
recognizes that consent obtained through deception or
coercion may not be valid, it is equally important to
acknowledge the principle of sexual autonomy, which
presumes that an individual is capable of making
voluntary choices unless demonstrably impaired.
Allegations that consent was vitiated solely on the ground
of a failed promise may not, in every case, constitute an
offence, particularly where the nature of the relationship
suggests mutual engagement over a sustained period.
Premature conclusions regarding lack of consent, in the
absence of clear indicators of coercion or bad faith, may
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed cause unfair prejudice. Each case must, therefore, turn on
Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA
Designation: Personal Assistant
Reason: Authentication
Location: High Court of Orissa
Date: 28-May-2025 12:26:48
Page 3 of 6
its own facts, and courts must tread cautiously in drawing
inferences at the pre-trial stage.
8. This Court had an occasion to deal with a case of similar
facts to this case i.e. in CRLMC No.4485 of 2024 (Manoj
Kumar Munda -vrs. State of Odisha & Anr.) wherein the
Petitioner/ alleged accused had challenged the proceeding
initiated against him for commission of the alleged
offences under Sections 376(2)(a), 376(2)(i), 376(2)(n), 294,
506, and 34 of the I.P.C. This Court vide judgment dated
14.02.2025 taking into account the various judicial
pronouncements of the Supreme Court had made an
elaborate discussions on the concept of consent and the
issue of sexual autonomy and allowed the CRLMC
No.4485 of 2024 quashing the proceedings against the
Petitioner. The ordering portion of the said judgment is
extracted herein below:
"36. The legal system, by criminalizing sex under
a "false promise of marriage," upholds this
performative construct, one that assumes that
women engage in sexual relationships only as a
prelude to matrimony, rather than as autonomous
agents of their own desires.
37. In its pursuit of justice, the law must not
become an instrument of moral policing. It must
acknowledge that sexual agency is not a promise,
nor is it a contract that mandates a predetermined
outcome. To assume otherwise is to deny women
Signature Not Verified
Digitally Signed the full measure of their autonomy, desire, and
Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA
Designation: Personal Assistant
Reason: Authentication
Location: High Court of Orissa
choice, reducing them to mere bearers of honour,
Date: 28-May-2025 12:26:48
Page 4 of 6
rather than as individuals possessing an intrinsic
right to their own bodies and decisions.
...
39. It is in this light that the automatic
criminalization of failed relationships under the
guise of "false promise of marriage" must be
scrutinized. The assumption that every physical
relationship between a man and a woman carries
the implicit condition of matrimony is not a
principle of law but a vestige of control."
9. Considering the facts and circumstances, and keeping in
view the submissions of the learned counsel for the
Petitioner, and the view taken in Manoj Kumar Munda
(supra), this Court is of the view that the Petitioner should
be granted bail by the court in seisin over the matter in the
aforesaid case. This Court, accordingly, directs the court in
seisin over the matter to release the Petitioner on bail in the
aforesaid case on some stringent terms and conditions
with further conditions that:-
i. the Petitioner shall appear before the
concerned local Police Station in every
fortnight on Monday between 10.00A.M. to
1.00P.M. till conclusion of the trial;
ii. the Petitioner shall not indulge himself in any
criminal activities in future;
iii. the Petitioner shall not tamper the evidence of
the prosecution witnesses in any manner;
iv. the Petitioner shall not threaten the victim or
her family members in any manner;
v. the Petitioner after the onset of monsoon
Designation: Personal Assistant
plant 400 saplings of local variety like mango,
Reason: Authentication
Location: High Court of Orissa
Date: 28-May-2025 12:26:48 neem, tamarind etc. in and around his village
over the Government land/ community land/
private land, if it is in the possession of the
Petitioner or his family members.
Violation of any of the above conditions shall entail
cancellation of the bail.
10. The District Nursery/D.F.O shall extend the helping
hand by supplying the saplings to the Petitioner and the
Revenue Authority shall assist the Petitioner in identifying
the location for plantation of the saplings. If the land is not
available, the Petitioner to approach the Revenue
Authority for identifying the land for plantation and the
Revenue Authority shall do the needful.
11. The I.I.C. of the concerned Police Station in
coordination with the local Forest Officer shall monitor;
whether the Petitioner has planted the saplings or not.
12. It is further made clear that the Petitioner shall file an
affidavit after plantation of the saplings before the local
Police Station assuring that he will maintain those plants
for two years. The said affidavit be also produced before
the learned court below at the time of trial.
13. This BLAPL is, accordingly, disposed of.
(Dr. S.K. Panigrahi)
Judge
Ayaskanta
Designation: Personal Assistant
Location: High Court of Orissa
Date: 28-May-2025 12:26:48
