JASPAL SINGH KAURAL
Vs.
THE STATE OF NCT OF DELHI AND ANOTHER
( Before : B. V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, JJ. )
Criminal Appeal No…of 2025 Arising Out of SLP (Criminal) No. 4007 of 2024
Decided on : 07-04-2025
Penal Code, 1860 — Section 376 — Rape — Consent — False Promise of Marriage — For consent to sexual intercourse to be vitiated by a “misconception of fact” arising from a promise to marry, the promise must be false ab initio, made without any intention of being adhered to, and must have a direct nexus to the complainant’s decision Where the complainant was aware that the accused was married at the inception of the relationship, and the relationship was prolonged (spanning several years, even after both parties obtained divorces from their respective spouses), the consent given by a mature complainant is deemed reasoned and conscious, negating the element of “misconception of fact” — A subsequent breach of promise does not automatically convert the initial consent into one obtained by deceit under S. 375 IPC.
