The Delhi High Court has issued a significant ruling, emphasizing that courts should not be utilized as "matrimonial facilitators" to pressure the accused into marrying the victim or to secure bail in sexual assault cases. Justice Swarna Kanta Sharma made these observations while denying anticipatory bail to a man accused of raping a woman under false promises of marriage.
The accused had sought pre-arrest bail, contending that he was now willing to marry the victim, and even the woman's father, who had initially opposed their inter-caste marriage, had consented. However, the court firmly rejected this plea, stating that the judicial system could not be manipulated to facilitate marriages.
"In this court's opinion, the courts of law cannot be used as a forum for the purpose of facilitating marriages and be used as marriage facilitators by first lodging an FIR alleging that the accused, after establishing physical relations, had refused to get married to the victim and later appear before the court for the grant of bail which they have been opposing for many months," the court emphasized.
The court also took note of the fact that both the accused and the complainant had presented conflicting stances before the courts and investigative agencies, leading to a misuse of the judicial system. It stated that it had become a troubling trend for parties to burden the judicial system with complaints that congest court dockets.
Justice Sharma firmly asserted that the judicial system should not be exploited for settling personal scores or pressuring any party to act in a specific manner to achieve their objectives. The court maintained that considering the circumstances of the case, it was not suitable to grant anticipatory bail, as the case had progressed from the FIR's lodging to the ongoing investigation stage.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the LatestLaws staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Source Link
Picture Source :
