MUMBAI, June 1 -- The Supreme Court has struck down a rape case against a 25-year-old student after observing that there was no question of him inducing the alleged survivor into a physical extramarital relationship under the false promise of marriage since the woman was still legally married to another person. A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma observed that even though the woman wasn't living with her estranged husband at the time of her relationship with the accused, they hadn't legally separated. The woman got a divorce on December 29, 2022, around six months after her extramarital relationship began, and, therefore, there was no question of the accused obtaining her consent under a false promise, the bench said. "There is no material to substantiate inducement or misrepresentation on the part of the appellant (accused student) to secure consent for sexual relations without having any intention of fulfilling said promise," said the bench, while setting aside the Bombay high court's June 2024 order that refused to quash the FIR against the accused. The man had been booked for rape in July 2023 at the Karad taluka police station in Satara. This was after the woman lodged a complaint, claiming that he had a forcible physical relationship with her from June 2022 after promising he would marry her. According to the FIR, the woman and her four-year-old son used to live in the same area where the man, then a college student, stayed with some of his classmates. The two got acquainted and soon began a physical relationship. However, the woman eventually approached the police and accused the man of rape after he allegedly refused to marry her. In her complaint, the woman alleged that man raped her at different lodges, borrowed money and used her car, after assuring her of marriage. However, he later refused to marry her, citing religious differences, and cut off all contact with her, she claimed. The accused denied the allegations, saying the woman had initiated the relationship and later also threatened him. He approached the Bombay high court to quash the criminal proceedings against him. However, his appeal was dismissed by the high court, after which he decided to approach the Supreme Court. The apex court noted that the FIR had been lodged after a delay of 13 months, adding that the woman's decision to be in a relationship with the accused over a long period and visiting lodges with him contradicted her claims that there was coercion. "Her conduct is not consistent with that of a victim of sexual assault," the bench said. "This is also not a case where there was a false promise to marry to begin with. A consensual relationship turning sour or partners becoming distant cannot be a ground for invoking [the] criminal machinery of the state," the bench added, as it struck down the criminal proceedings against the accused....