NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the breakdown of a relationship that did not culminate in marriage cannot warrant the initiation of criminal proceedings based on a complaint by one party. Granting relief to a man facing criminal proceedings on an FIR filed by his girlfriend, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh said a consensual relationship turning sour should not be the sole basis of criminal proceedings. "What was a consensual relationship at the initial stages cannot be given a colour of criminality when (it) the said relationship does not fructify into a marital relationship," the bench said.
The bench noted that the accused and the complainant, both residents of Delhi, were in a relationship for two years and they used to visit each other's house. "It is inconceivable that the complainant would continue to meet the appellant or maintain a prolonged association or physical relationship with him in the absence of voluntary consent on her part. Moreover, it would have been improbable for the appellant to ascertain the complainant's residential address, as mentioned in the FIR unless such information had been voluntarily provided by the complainant herself.
It is also revealed that, at one point, both parties had an intention to marry each other, though this plan ultimately did not materialise. The appellant and the complainant were in a consensual relationship. They are both educated adults," the bench said.
The FIR was filed after t.