Supreme Court Quashes Conviction For Rape & Kidnapping After Noting Convict Married Victim & Have 4 Children

The Supreme Court, while exercising its inherent powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, quashed the sentence of the present accused-appellant for rape and kidnapping charges after noting that he married the complainant and they have four children.Essentially, the complainant had lodged an FIR against three accused persons for committing criminal offences including rape and kidnapping. The offence related to incidents in 1997.The Trial Court in 1999 convicted the appellant while acquitting the other two. The High Court in 2019 affirmed this sentence. Challenging this, the accused filed this present appeal.In 2003, the appellant had married the victim.Before the Apex Court, the appellant had argued that confirming his conviction would cause greater injustice. Pertinently, the complainant had supported these submissions. On the contrary, the State had opposed these contentions and had argued that the victim was a minor when the offence was committed against her. Further, the subsequent marriage between them would not negate the charges proved against the accused.The Bench of Justices B.V Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma, after perusing the submissions, observed that Article 142 of the Constitution confers special power to pass necessary orders for doing complete justice. The Court acknowledged that this power should be used sparingly and after keeping peculiar facts and circumstances of the case in regard. Taking note of the fact that the appellant-accused subsequently married the victim and had four children out of their wedlock, the Court invoked its inherent power in the present case.“Bearing in mind the fact that in this case, the appellant-accused has subsequently married the second respondent-prosecutrix and they have four children out of their wedlock, we find that the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case would persuade us to exercise our jurisdiction and powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India by following earlier dicta of this case in the aforesaid orders.,” the Court said.To bolster, the Court also cited K. Dhandapani vs. State by the Inspector of Police 2022 SCC Online SC 1056 and Dasari Srikanth vs. State of Telangana (2024) SCC online SC 936, wherein similar facts arose and the Court invoked its power under Article 142 for quashing appellant-accused's conviction.In view of this factual backdrop, the Court set aside the impugned judgments while acquitting the present appellant.Appearances:Appellant: Mr. Arvind Kumar, AORRespondent: Mr. Bharat Bhushan, AOR Mr. Keshav Bansal, Adv. Mr. Apoorv Shukla, AOR Mr. Puneet Chahar, Adv. Ms. Prabhleen A. Shukla, Adv.Case Name: SHRIRAM URAV v. STATE OF CHHATTISGARH., CRIMINAL APPEAL NO(S). 41/2021Citation : 2025 LiveLaw (SC) 160Click here to read/ download the judgment

Supreme Court Quashes Conviction For Rape & Kidnapping After Noting Convict Married Victim & Have 4 Children

Gyanvi Khanna

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