New Delhi, Sept. 11 -- There exists a "clear distinction between rape and consensual sex", the Supreme Court held on Wednesday as it ruled that courts must carefully assess allegations of sexual assault made on the promise of marriage. If the accused never intended to marry and made a false promise with sexual intentions, it held, such conduct would amount to cheating or deception.

A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta, while quashing criminal proceedings against a man accused of rape, stressed that false or vexatious complaints not only tarnish a person's image but also amount to an abuse of judicial process.

"It is by now well settled that summoning any person on the basis of a frivolous or vexatious complaint is somethin...