Sunil Kumar vs State Of Kerala on 22 May, 2013

[Cites 30, Cited by 1]

Kerala High Court

Sunil Kumar vs State Of Kerala on 22 May, 2013

Bench: P.Bhavadasan

       

  

  

 
 
                            IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM

                                                        PRESENT:

                            THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.BHAVADASAN

                  WEDNESDAY, THE 22ND DAY OF MAY 2013/1ST JYAISHTA 1935

                                             CRL.A.No. 614 of 2006 (F )
                                                   --------------------------
                     SC.NO. 113/2003 OF THE COURT OF SPECIAL JUDGE FOR THE TRIAL OF
                           S.C./S.T(P.A) ACT CASES ( SESSIONS JUDGE), KOZHIKODE
                                                  ---------------------------------

APPELLANT /ACCUSED.:
--------------------------------------

            SUNIL KUMAR,S/O.BHASKARAN,
            AGED 33 YEARS, KURIKKALAMKANDY HOUSE,
            CHAMANCEHRY AMSOM, DESOM, POOKKAD.

            BY ADVS.SRI.P.S.SREEDHARAN PILLAI
                          SRI.C.S.SUNIL
                          SRI.M.PRAVEESH

RESPONDENT /COMPLAINANT.:
------------------------------------------------------

            STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY THE
            PUBLIC PROSECUTOR, HIGH COURT OF KERALA,
            ERNAKULAM.

              BY PUBLIC PROSECUTOR SRI.ROY THOMAS

            THIS CRIMINAL APPEAL HAVING BEEN FINALLY HEARD
            ON 27-03-2013, THE COURT ON 22-05-2013 DELIVERED
            THE FOLLOWING:



sts



                       P. BHAVADASAN, J.
                 -Crl.Appeal.- No. - - - - - - - -
                   - - - - -   - -
                                   614 of 2006
                 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
             Dated this the 22nd day of May, 2013.

                           JUDGMENT

The accused in this case, who was prosecuted for the offences punishable under Section 3(1)(xii) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Sections 366 and 376 of Indian Penal Code, was found guilty on all three counts. He was therefore convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for eight years for the offence punishable under Section 366 of I.P.C., to undergo rigorous imprisonment for eight years and to pay fine of Rs.1,00,000/- with a default sentence of rigorous imprisonment for two years for the offence under Section 376 of I.P.C. and to undergo rigorous imprisonment for five years and to pay fine of Rs.25,000/-, with a default sentence of rigorous imprisonment for one year for the offence under Section 3(1)(xii) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The substantive sentences were Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

directed to run concurrently and set off as per law was allowed. It was also directed that if the fine amount is realised, a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- will be paid as compensation to P.W.1.

2. P.W.1 is the victim in this case. P.W.6 is her brother. On the date of the incident, i.e., on 10.7.2001, P.W.1, as usual, went for job. However, she did not return home on that date. A panicked P.W.6 laid Ext.P3 first information statement. In the meanwhile, a phone call was received from P.W.1 stating that she had gone along with the accused and no one needs to worry about her. P.W.7 recorded Ext.P3 first information statement furnished by P.W.6 and registered crime as per Ext.P3(a) first information report under the caption 'man missing'. P.W.13, who was entrusted with the investigation, informed the missing of the girl to all police stations. During investigation, he happened to come across P.W.1 in the Atholi Bazar and she was taken to the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

police station and her statement was recorded. On the basis of her statement, he filed a report before the court seeking to have the offences under Sections 366 and 376 of I.P.C. and Section 3(1)(xii) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act incorporated. He submitted Ext.P16 report to the higher officer and he had P.W.1 medically examined. P.W.9 examined the victim and furnished Ext.P5 report. Investigation was taken over by P.W.11. He prepared the scene mahazar in relation to House No.7/4004 of Kalpetta Municipality as per Ext.P7. He also prepared Ext.P1 scene mahazar in relation to House No.4/203 of the same Municipality. He recorded the statements of witnesses and had M.Os. 1 to 3 cloths seized when produced by P.W.1 as per Ext.P8 mahazar. He sent the articles so seized for chemical examination and obtained Ext.P11 report. On the arrest of the accused, he had him subjected to potency test and obtained the necessary certificates. He had also obtained the other Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

necessary documents, completed investigation and laid charge before court.

3. The court before which final report was laid found that the offences are exclusively triable by a special court and committed the case to Special Court for trial of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention Atrocities) Act cases under Section 209 of Cr.P.C. The latter court, on receipt of records, and on appearance of the accused before it, framed charges for the offence under Section 3(1)(xi) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention Atrocities) Act and Sections 366 and 376 of I.P.C.. To the charge, the accused pleaded not guilty and claimed to be tried. The prosecution therefore examined P.Ws.1 to 12 and had Exts.P1 to P16 marked. M.Os. 1 to 3 were got identified and marked. During the examination of the prosecution witnesses, the defence had Exts. D1 to D4 marked contradictory portions of Sec.161 statements of the respective witnesses. After the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

close of the prosecution evidence, the accused was questioned under Section 313 Cr.P.C. He denied all the incriminating circumstances brought out in evidence against him and maintained that he is innocent. He submitted that while P.W.1 was working with him, she had committed financial irregularities and also that her father's brother Ashokan had some property near the property of the mother of the accused and there were disputes between them. The said Ashokan is a member of Atholi Panchayat. He, wielding his influence, has falsely implicated the accused.

4. Finding that the accused could not be acquitted under Section 232 Cr.P.C., he was asked to enter on his defence. He chose to adduce no evidence.

5. On an appreciation of the materials before it, the court below came to the conclusion that the offences have been made out and convicted and sentenced the accused as already mentioned. The said conviction and sentence are Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

assailed in this appeal.

6. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant contended that the lower court has misdirected itself both on facts and in law and has come to a wrong conclusion that the prosecution has succeeded in establishing the case against the accused. It was pointed out by the learned counsel that the victim was aged above 24 years at the time of incident and was capable of knowing the pros and cons of her acts. Referring to the evidence of P.W.1, it was contended that, according to the prosecutrix, she was in love with the accused and that her evidence would show that she on several occasions had physical contacts with the accused. She resided at various places with the accused voluntarily and on her own volition and there was nothing to show that there was any compulsion from the side of the accused for P.W.1 to accompany him or to have sex with him. There is absolutely no evidence to show that there was any threat, coercion or Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

intimidation or there was any forced intercourse against the resistance or reluctance offered by P.W.1. The only claim made by P.W.1 is that the accused had offered to marry her and she bonafide believed that he would do so. It is significant to notice, according to the learned counsel, that even after she left the employment of the accused, the meeting between them continued and if one is to go by the evidence of P.W.1, she had an active role to play in those meetings. The complaint of P.W.1 is only that when she mooted marriage, that was put off by the accused under one pretext or another. Even according to P.W.1, her affair with the accused was not disclosed to the members of her family. The definite case of P.W.1, according to learned counsel, is that on 10.7.2001 the accused told her that they could get their marriage registered at Wayanad and believing him she went along with him voluntarily. Even going by the evidence of P.W.1, according to the learned counsel, they resided in the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

house of C.W.1, who is related and known to P.W.1 and P.W.1 had represented that the accused was her husband. Thereafter, they shifted to the house of C.W.3. During the stay in the houses of both C.W.1 and C.W.2, P.W.1 would say that she has physical contact with the accused. Her complaint, according to the learned counsel for the appellant, that when she was residing in the house of C.W.3, the accused left her and did not return. She had developed abdominal pain and was hospitalized by P.W.5. P.W.5, the uncle of P.W.1, informed about the illness of P.W.1 to the members of her family. P.W.3 came to the hospital, got P.W.1 discharged from the hospital and took her home. Learned counsel emphasized that there is no case for P.W.1 that either during the stay at various places at Kalpetta or any other point of time, when they had sex, there was threat, coercion or intimidation which made P.W.1 unable to resist. In fact, learned counsel pointed out that at no point of time, any resistance was offered by P.W.1 and she Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

was a willing person to the sex enjoyed by them. It is clear, according to learned counsel, that the physical contacts between P.W.1 and the accused are the result of consent on the part of P.W.1. In support of his contention, learned counsel relied on the decisions reported in Uday v. State of Karnataka (2003 K.H.C. 943), Thimmappa Gowda K.P. v. State of Karnataka (2011 K.H.C. 4317), Jintu Das v. State of Assam (2003 K.H.C. 2278) and K.P. Thimmappa Gowda v. State of Karnataka (AIR 2011 SC 2564).

7. Learned counsel for the appellant went on to point out that being a woman who has attained majority, she should be deemed to be conscious about the consequences of having sex with the accused and should have been able to foresee the possible danger. The allegation is that the accused had promised to marry her on a future date. Even assuming that P.W.1 believed that representation, it cannot be treated as misconception of fact falling under Section 90 of Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

I.P.C. and therefore it could not be said that there was no consent. There is no allegation of fraud or any other vitiating element so as to vitiate the consent. There is nothing to show that sexual intercourse, assuming the allegations are true, was against the will and consent of P.W.1. If that be so, the offences are not attracted and the appellant is entitled to an acquittal.

8. Learned Public Prosecutor on the other hand contended that the court below has considered the evidence in considerable detail and has also evaluated the conduct of the accused and has come to the conclusion that the accused had promised to marry P.W.1 which P.W.1 honestly believed and it was as a result of that belief that she had sex with the accused. Learned Public Prosecutor drew the attention of this court to the fact that on 10.7.2001 P.W.1 was induced to go along with the accused on the promise that they would get their marriage registered at Wayanad. A reading of the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

evidence of P.W.1 would show that she frequently reminded of the said representation by him and then he put off the marriage under one pretext or another. His conduct is such that he could instill confidence in her mind and made her firmly believe that he would marry her. It was that bonafide belief which made the victim to have sex with the accused. A close scrutiny of the evidence in this case and the conduct of the accused would show that from the very beginning itself, he had no intention to marry the victim of which he was fully aware, even then he made a false representation to the victim that he would marry her and made her believe that he would do so. That amounts to a misconception of fact falling within the ambit of Section 90 and if that be so, the claim of consent is without any basis. In support of his contention, learned Public Prosecutor relied on the decisions reported in Rao Harnarain Singh v. State (AIR 1958 Punjab 123), Vijayan Pillai @ Babu v. State of Kerala (1989 (2) K.L.J. 234), In re Anthony Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

(AIR 1960 Madras 308), Uday v. State of Karnataka (AIR 2003 SC 1639), Dileep Singh v. State of Bihar (AIR 2005 SC 203), Yedla Srinivasa Rao v. State of A.P. ((2006) 11 SCC 615), Pradeep Kumar Verma v. State of Bihar (AIR 2007) SC 3059), State of U.P. v. Manoj Kumar Pandey (AIR 2009 SC 711). Relying on the principle laid down in the above decisions, it was contended by the learned Public Prosecutor that a false promise to marry which the accused knew from the very beginning was false and had practiced deceit on the victim, cannot now turn around and say that he had sex with P.W.1 with her consent.

9. P.W.1 is the victim. As is usual in such type of cases, the evidence regarding the sexual acts is confined to the testimony of P.W.1. P.W.1 was examined by P.W.9, the doctor. Her findings are contained in Ext.P5 certificate. True, she reserved her final opinion pending receipt of chemical examination report. She did not receive the report and Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

therefore no final opinion was given. But from the entries available in Ext.P5 and going by the evidence of P.W9, it is clear that P.W.1 was used to sexual intercourse.

10. Coming to the evidence of P.W.1, she claims that she had fallen in love with the accused and that she had worked in the fancy shop run by the accused for an year. Their intimacy developed during that period. She would say that they fell in love with an intention of getting married and that the accused had told her that he would marry her. To quote in her own words "

.

."

She would say that since the accused had promised to marry her, she did not reveal the incidents to the members of her Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

family. She goes on to say that when she mooted marriage, the accused used to put it off under one pretext or another and he would point out that they could decide later and there were certain difficulties in getting married at that point of time. After leaving the employment of the accused, she joined another shop at Puthiyangadi. She would say that even after taking up employment in the new shop, she continued to meet the accused. They used to meet near the house of P.W.1. They used to meet on the banks of a river near to the house of P.W.1 and even P.W.1 claims that the accused used to talk about their marriage. He is also said to have told her that due to certain problems he could not marry her immediately and that he would marry her later. She would admit that the fact that they were in love and the accused had promised to marry her were not disclosed to the members of her family. On 10.7.2001, according to her, the accused came to the shop where P.W.1 was working and told her that he wanted her to Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

go along with him to get their marriage registered. He suggested that they could go to Wayanad. He in fact represented that they could get their marriage registered at Wayanad. P.W.1 would say that they went by bus to Kalpetta. She would say that she had not revealed to anyone that she was going with accused to Kalpetta. After reaching Kalpetta, according to P.W.1, from there she telephoned to a house near to her house and told the inmates of that house to inform the members of her family that she had left the house in the company of the accused. She then says that they had gone to Kalpetta where they stayed in the house of C.W.2, Santha, who was familiar to her. P.W.1 says that, to C.W.2 she said that they were married and they stayed there for two days. She would say that they had sexual intercourse on both those days. They then shifted to the house of C.W.3 who is examined as P.W.3. They stayed there for a day. There too, they had indulged in sex. She would say that at that time also Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

she talked about their marriage and the accused promised to have their marriage registered. Then, saying that he had to go to his native place and would return soon to marry her, the accused is said to have left her. He did not return. C.W.3 took her to his uncle's house, i.e. P.W.5's house. While she was residing with P.W.5, she developed acute stomach pain and she was admitted in Government Hospital at Kalpetta. She claimed that she then told P.W.5 about her affair with the accused. While she was in the hospital she hoped that the accused would come and meet her. However, he did not turn up. Thereafter, members from her family came to the hospital, got her discharged and took her home. She would say that they have enquired about the whereabouts of the accused and then she does not know what had transpired thereafter. She says that she believed the words of the accused that he would marry her and that is why she had gone to Kalpetta and had sex with him.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

11. However, in cross-examination, certain omissions were brought out which may have some bearing to the issue involved in this case. Some of the statements brought to her notice, she replied that she did not remember. She however, conceded that her claim that she and the accused had fallen in love while she was working under the accused was not disclosed to the police. She denied that she had written any letters to the accused. She admitted that when they went to the house of C.W.3, it was because of her familiarity that they were entertained in that house. They allowed her to reside there only because she had told them that the accused was her husband. To a pointed question that while staying in the house of C.W.2, she had indulged in sex with the accused voluntarily and out of her own will, the answer given by the victim is that it is so because she believed that he would marry her. She also admitted in cross-examination that when they were asked to vacate from Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

the house of C.W.2, she and the accused had gone to the house of C.W.3. Here too, she would say that the accused had no acquaintance or familiarity with C.W.3 and it was because of her familiarity that they were entertained in that house.

12. On the basis of the above evidence of P.W.1, it is contended by the learned counsel for the appellant that if at all there was any sexual intercourse, it with the consent of the victim and therefore, no offence is made out. P.W.1 has categorically stated that she believed the accused when he told her that he would marry her and that is the reason why she had gone along with him and indulged in sex with him. The question that would arise for consideration is whether her such belief would amount to misconception of fact vitiating the alleged consent claimed by the accused.

13. Section 375 of I.P.C. defines rape. It reads as follows:

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

"375.Rape.- A man is said to commit "rape" who, except in the case hereinafter excepted, has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the six following descriptions:-

First.- Against her will.

Secondly.-Without her consent.

Thirdly.- With her consent, when her consent has been obtained by putting her or any person in whom she is interested in fear of death or of hurt."

(Rest omitted as unnecessary.)

14. A reading of the above provision shows that when a woman is subjected to sexual intercourse against her will or without her consent, or in the circumstances mentioned in Clause Thirdly, it amounts to rape. The clause which is attracted to the facts of the case is Clause Secondly, which mentions "without her consent". The question arises what is meant by 'consent'. One has to necessarily refer to Section 90 of I.P.C. which reads as follows:

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

"90. Consent known to be given under fear or misconception.- A consent is not such a consent as it intended by any section of this Code, if the consent is given by a person under fear of injury, or under a misconception of fact, and if the person doing the act knows, or has reason to believe, that the consent was given in consequence of such fear or misconception."

(Rest omitted as unnecessary.) It must immediately be noticed that section is worded in the negative form. Going by the provision, consent cannot be inferred if (i) is given under fear or injury, (ii) under misconception of fact. First of these two aspects have no application to the facts of the present case. It is the second limb, i.e., misconception of fact, which is taken aid by the prosecution in the case on hand to fasten liability on the accused. It is trite that the consent must be free one and must not be the result of threat, coercion, intimidation, misrepresentation or fraud. Consent given under Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

misconception is invalid if the person concerned is aware of its existence. In Ratanlal and Dhirajlal's Law of Crimes, 23rd Edition, 262 at page under the caption 'Misconception of fact', it is noticed as follows:

"The prosecutrix had alleged in a complaint against the accused, a teacher of the local village school of having committed rape on her. According to the complaint, the accused used to visit her residence and one day, during the absence of the complainant's parents from the house, told her that he was in love with her and that he wanted to marry her. The complainant wanted the marriage to be performed. The accused was alleged to have promised that he would do so after obtaining the consent of her parents. Acting on such assurance she started cohabiting with the accused and this continued for several months during which period the accused often used to visit her late at night and sometimes spent the night with her. Eventually she conceived and when she insisted that the marriage should be performed as early as possible the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

accused proposed abortion of the child and agreed to marry the complainant sometime after the forthcoming elections. The complainant not having agreed to the abortion, the accused ultimately disowned her and stopped visiting her house. On these allegations a rape was filed. It was held that if a full-grown girl consented to the act of sexual intercourse on a promise of marriage and continued to indulge in such activity until she became pregnant, it was then an act of promiscuity on her part and not an act induced by misconception of fact. Section 90 could not be called in aid in such a case to pardon the act of the girl and fasten criminal liability on the other, unless the Court could be assured that from the very inception the accused never really intended to marry her."

15. Consent contemplated under Sections 90 and 375 of I.P.C. must be one which should be obtained before the act. To ascertain whether there is consent on the part of the prosecutrix which would exonerate the accused, the attending Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

circumstances will have to be considered. One must notice here at once that Section 90 of I.P.C. comes under Chapter IV dealing with 'General Exceptions'. Consent, in order to relieve the act of criminal character like rape, must be an act of reason, accompanied with deliberation, after the mind has weighed as in a balance between the good and the evil. It is always a voluntary and conscious acceptance of what is proposed to be done by another and concurred in by the former.

16. In Halsbury's Laws of India, Vol.5(1) at page 131, it is stated as follows:

"Definition of 'consent' The Indian Penal Code 1860 defines 'consent' negatively. In other words, it defines as to what does not amount to consent. The word 'consent' is defined in the Indian Contract Act, 1872. Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense. Consent is said to be free when it is not caused by :

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

(1) coercion;

(2) undue influence;

(3) fraud;

(4) misrepresentation; or (5) mistake."

17. In Corpus Juris Secundum, Vol.15A deals with the question of consent and it is observed as follows:

"The word "consent" is also defined to mean intelligent concurrence in a contract or an agreement of such a nature as to bind the party consenting, the mind weighing, as in a balance, the good and evil on both sides; a voluntary yielding of the will, judgment, or inclination to what is proposed or desired by another; the voluntary allowance or acceptance of what is done or proposed to be done by another; voluntary accordance with, or concurrence in, what is done or proposed by another; voluntarily yielding the will to the proposition of another; acquiescence or compliance therewith.

The word "consent" may be used with a significance no broader than acquiescence, that is, Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

knowledge without objection. "consent" implies knowledge, a knowledge of the facts, and is evidence of willingness. The term implies assent to some proposition submitted; an assent to some proposition submitted by another. In some connections the consent that is required is something more than a mere general consent. The term may signify actual consent, and not a mere fiction of consent, and may imply something more than mere acquiescence with knowledge, or a mere acquiescence in a state of things already in existence, or a mere formal act of the mind"

18. In Words and Phrases, permanent Edition, Vol.8A at page 197 it is observed as follows:

" "Consent" in law means a voluntary agreement by a person in the possession and exercise of sufficient mentality to make an intelligent choice proposed by another. "Consent" differs from "assent", and implies some positive action and involves submission; while "assent" means mere passivity, or submission which does not include consent."

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

At page 205 it is observed as follows:

"Will is defined as wish, desire, pleasure, inclination, choice, the faculty of conscious, and especially of deliberate, action. It is purely and solely a mental process to be ascertained, in a prosecution for rape, by what the prosecuting witness may have said or done. It being a mental process there is no other manner by which her will can be ascertained, and it must be left to the jury to determine that will by her acts and statements, as disclosed by the evidence. It is but natural, therefore, that in charging the jury upon the subject of rape, or assault with intent to commit rape, the courts should have almost universally, and, in many cases, exclusively, discussed "consent" and resistance. There can be no better evidence of willingness is a condition or state of mind no better evidence of unwillingness than resistance. No lexicographer recognizes "consent" as a synonym of willingness, and it is apparent that they are not synonymous. It is equally apparent, on the other hand, that the true relation between the words is Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

that willingness is a condition or state of mind and "consent" one of the evidences of that condition. Likewise resistance is not a synonym of unwillingness, though it is an evidence thereof. In all cases, therefore, where the prosecuting witness has an intelligent will, the court should charge upon the elements of "consent" and resistance as being proper elements from which the jury may infer either a favourable or an opposing will. It must, however, be recognized in all cases that the real test is whether the assault was committed against the will of the prosecuting witness."

19. In Black's Law Dictionary, 9th Edition at page 346 'consent' is noticed as follows:

"Consent. Agreement, approval, or permission as to some act or purpose, esp. given voluntarily by a competent person; legally effective assent. Consent is an affirmative defense to assault, battery, and related torts, as well as such torts as as defamation, invasion of privacy, conversion, and trespass. Consent may be a defense to a crime if the victim has the capacity to consent and if the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

consent negates an element of the crime or thwarts the harm that the law seeks to prevent. See Model Penal Code.

"The consent to a contract is none the less 'genuine' and 'real', even though it be induced by fraud, mistake, or duress. Consent may be induced by a mistaken hope of gain or a mistaken estimate of value or by the lie of a third person and yet there is a contract and we do not doubt the 'reality of the consent'. Fraud, mistake and duress are merely collateral operative facts that co-exist with the expressions of consent and have a very important effect upon the resulting legal relations."

20. In Text Book of Criminal Law by Glanville Williams, Second Edition, the author, after referring to the negative and positive sides of the notion of consent, at page 560 observed as follows:

"Consider the case where a man makes a false statement to a woman in order to obtain her consent to sexual intercourse. If he represents himself as being rich when in fact he is poor, few Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

would argue that her consent is "vitiated", so that the man is guilty of rape or assault. The traditional rule for both these offences is that they are acts done without consent. When, if ever, is fraud so serious that it can be done to destroy any "real"

consent?

The answer is given by the previous observation that consent always means consent to something. If you consent to A, you do not for that reason consent to B. It may be said that in rape, the issue is the woman's consent to sexual intercourse with this man. If she does not know that the act is one of sexual intercourse, or if she is mistaken as to the identity of the man, then she does not consent, but otherwise she does. One must have regard to the decencies of language, and it cannot properly be asserted that the woman does not consent where she merely mistakes some attribute of the man (that he has career prospects, that he has been vasectomised, that he intends to marry her, that he is free from venereal disease). If the man is guilty of fraud in these matters he can be punished for the statutory offence of obtaining sexual intercourse by Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

fraud. There is, therefore, no need to inflate the grave offence of rape to make it cover sexual deceits in general.

The law was settled in this sense in Clarence, which has already been discussed in connection with OAPA Section 20.

It will be remembered that the facts were that Clarence, knowing that he was suffering from venereal disease, had intercourse with his wife, and thus communicated the disease to her. In holding that Clarence was not guilty under Section 20, because there was no assault, the Court for Crown Cases Reserved took the view that the wife's consent to the contact was not vitiated by Clarence's nondisclosure of his condition; and Stephen J expressly held that the rules for both rape and assault were the same. He stated the law thus:

"The only sorts of fraud which so far destroy the effect of a woman's consent as to convert a connection consented to in fact into rape are frauds as to the nature of the act itself, or as to the identity of the person who does the act. I should myself prefer to say that consent in such cases does not Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

exist at all, because the act consented to is not the act done."

21. In Halsbury's Laws of England, Vol.25 at page 191 it is observed as follows:

"For the purposes of the statutory sexual offences involving the absence of consent, a person 'consents' if he agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice.

Further, if in such proceedings, it is proved that the defendant did the relevant act and that he intentionally deceived the complainant as to the nature or purpose of the act or intentionally induced the complainant to consent to the act by impersonating a person known personally to the complainant, it is to be conclusively presumed that the complainant did not consent to the act and that the defendant did not believe that the complainant consent to it."

22. Criminal Law, 9th Edition by P.S.A. Pillai, at page 127 it is stated as follows:

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

"The word 'consent' has not been defined in the IPC. Section 13 of the Indian Contract Act, has defined consent as follows:

"Two or more persons are said to consent when they agree upon the same thing in the same sense'. Section 90, IPC, describes consent in a negative manner. In other words, it describes as to what does not amount to consent as intended by any section in the court.

Consent under this section is the act of a man in his character of a rational and intelligent being, not in that of an animal. It must proceed from the will, not when such will is acting without the control of reason as in idiocy or drunkenness but the will sufficiently enlightened by the intellect to make such consent the act of a rational being."

Generally speaking, consent means something which is done deliberately and by free will. It is a concurrence of wills. While concurrence of wills is an essential element of consent, it is also equally important that the consent is given consciously and with full knowledge of the act consented to." Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

23. In American Jurisprudence 2d at page 766, it is mentioned as follows:

"The authorities agree that the sexual act must be committed against the will of the woman, and without her consent, not technically, but actually and in fact, or it will not be rape. Consent given at any time prior to penetration deprives the subsequent intercourse of its criminal character, regardless of how reluctantly it may have been given, or how much force had theretofore been employed. However, the yielding to overpowering force, or yielding as a result of being put in fear, is submission, and not consent, and it is therefore often a vital question whether the woman ceased resistance because it was useless or dangerous, or because she ultimately consented. After the offense has been completed by penetration, no submission or consent of the woman will avail the defendant. The ultimate consent of the woman does not have a retroactive effect by relation, and operate as a condonation of a crime which has become Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

complete, and the doctrine of relation, however useful it may be as a rule defining or regulating private rights in a civil suit, has no application in criminal proceedings."

At page 767, it is mentioned as follows:

"A man will be justified in assuming the existence of consent if the conduct of the prosecutrix toward him at the time of the occurrence is of such a nature as to create in his mind an honest and reasonable belief that she has consented by yielding her will freely to the commission of the act. In the ordinary case, when the woman is awake, of mature years, of sound mind, and not in fear, a failure to oppose a carnal act is consent. And the rule of law is well settled that although a woman objects verbally to the act of intercourse, yet if she by her conduct consents to it, the act is not rape. Thus, it has been held that voluntary submission by the woman, while she has power to resist, no matter how reluctantly yielded, amounts to consent and removes from the act an essential element of the crime of rape."

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

At page 817 it was held as follows:

"It has been generally held that the alleged victim's testimony in prosecutions for forcible rape should be carefully considered, together with the circumstances, in determining whether she consented to the act, or whether, as she testifies, it was without her consent. Failure to make outcry where others are in the vicinity and outcry would be available should be considered in determining the question, for evidence of failure of the female to make any outcry tends to show that she consented to the intercourse. However, if the offence occurs at a place so remote from all human help that all outcry must be unavailing, it has been held that outcry need not be made, for the law does not require the doing of impossible or useless acts.

Although the mere failure to make an outcry does not raise a presumption as a matter of law that no outrage was committed, if no complaint is found to have been made by a prosecutrix in a given case, the want of it weights heavily against the prosecution, and in favour of the accused, unless Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

satisfactorily explained. Any considerable delay on the part of a prosecutrix to make complaint is a circumstance of more or less weight tending to show consent, depending upon the other surrounding circumstances."

24. In Criminal Law Cases and Materials by K.D.Gaur, the learned author referring to the decision reported in Rao Harnarain Singh, Sheoji Singh v. State (AIR 1958 Punjab

123) observed as follows:

"A mere act of helpless resignation in the face of inevitable compulsion, quiescence non-resistance passive giving in, when volitional faculty is either clouded by fear or vitiated by duress, cannot be deemed to be 'consent' as understood in law. Consent, on the part of a woman as a defence to an allegation of rape, requires voluntary participation, not only after the exercise of intelligence, based on the knowledge, of the significance and moral quality of the act, but after having freely exercised a choice between resistance and assent."

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

25. In Stroud's Judicial Dictionary of Words and Phrases, 6th Edition, Volume 1 at page 490, it is observed as follows:

"Consent. "'Consent' is an act of reason accompanied with deliberation, the mind weighing, as in a balance, the good and evil on each side."

"Every 'consent' to an act, involves a submission; but it by no means follows that a mere submission involves consent", e.g. The mere submission of a girl to a carnal assault, she being in the power of a strong man, is not consent. But there does not necessarily have to be complete willingness to constitute consent. A woman's consent to intercourse may be hesitant, reluctant or grudging, but if she consciously permits it there is "consent"."

26. In Corpus Juris Secundum, Volume 75, at page 475 it is observed as follows:

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

"To constitute carnal knowledge of a female rape, the law requires something more than mere absence of consent; there must be actual resistance, or excuse, incompatible with consent, for its absence. Thus, generally resistance by the female is a necessary element of the crime. In fact, the essential element of nonconsent, or that the act be against the woman's will, signifies, an is indicated by, resistance by the female. Further, the resistance must be in good faith and not a mere pretense, or, as stated otherwise, it must be real or genuine and active, and not feigned, or passive or perfunctory.

The female need not resist as long as either strength endures or consciousness continues, but rather the resistance must be proportioned to the outrage, and the amount of resistance required, sometimes by virtue of express statutory provisions, necessarily depends on the circumstances, such as the relative strength of the parties, the age and condition of the female, the uselessness of resistance, and the degree of force manifested. The female need resist only until physical penetration occurs, and the crime is Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

complete, and her failure to resist after that is immaterial; she need resist only until resistance becomes so useless as to warrant its cessation. Stated in another way, the resistance of the female to support a charge of rape need only be such as to make non-consent and actual resistance reasonably manifest."

27. A reading of the above literature would show that consent means an act of reasoning accompanied by deliberation, the mind weighing, as in a balance, good and evil on either sides. Consent supposes three things; (i) a physical power, (ii) a mental power, and (iii) free and serious use of them. Consent given under a misconception is invalid if the person to whom consent is given is aware of its existence. An honest misconception by both the parties however does not invalidate the consent. Consent obtained by false representation which leads to misconception of facts will not be valid consent. If the consent is obtained by (i) intimidation, (ii) force, threat, coercion or undue influence, it Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

is to be treated as a delusion and not as a free and deliberate act of mind.

28. Now one may turn to the decisions referred to by both sides. The decision often referred to is the one reported in Rao Harnarain Singh v. State (AIR 1958 Punjab

123). Though the court was considering an application for bail, it was contended on behalf of the accused that even assuming that there is sexual intercourse, the victim had consented to the same. The victim was no more. One of the main contentions was that there was no signs of the victim having offered resistance. Considering the question of consent in that context, it was held as follows:

"7. A mere act of helpless resignation in the face of inevitable compulsion, quiescence, non-resistance, or passive giving in, when volitional faculty is either clouded by fear or vitiated by duress, cannot be deemed to be "consent" as understood in law. Consent, on the part of a woman as a defence to an allegation of rape, Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

requires voluntary participation, not only after the exercise of intelligence, based on the knowledge, of the significance and moral quality of the act, but after having freely exercised a choice between resistance and assent.

Submission of her body under the influence of fear or terror is no consent. There is a difference between consent and submission. Every consent involves a submission but the converse does not follow and a mere act of submission does not involve consent. Consent of the girl in order to relieve an act, of a criminal character, like rape, must be an act of reason, accompanied with deliberation, after the mind has weighed as in a balance, the good and evil on each side, with the existing capacity and power to withdraw the assent according to one's will or pleasure.

A woman is said to consent, only when she freely agrees to submit herself, while in free and unconstrained possession of her physical and moral power to act in a manner she wanted. Consent implies the exercise of a free and untrammelled right to forbid or withhold what is being consented Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

to; it always is a voluntary and conscious acceptance of what is proposed to be done by another and concurred in by the former.

On the material placed before me, it cannot reasonably be argued that Mst. Surti was an assenting victim to the outrage perpetrated on her, on the fatal night. It is also not possible for me to accept the contention of the counsel for the accused petitioners, that Kalu Ram, the husband of the girl had freely and voluntarily accepted the importunate overtures, said to have been made to him, by Rao Harnarain Singh with full awareness of and willing concurrence in the proposed acts to which his wife was to be subjected by the accused persons."

29. Considering the issue as to what constitutes consent, in the decision reported in Re Anthony (AIR 1960 Madras 308), it was held as follows:

"21. In fact even in the case of adults, it has been Rao Harnarain Singh v. State AIR 1958 Punj Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

123 that A mere act of helpless resignation in the face of inevitable compulsion, quiescence, non-resistance, or passive giving in, when volitional faculty is either clouded by fear or vitiated by duress, cannot be deemed to be "consent" as understood in law. Consent, on the part of a woman as a defence to an allegation of rape, requires voluntary participation, not only after the exercise of intelligence, based on the knowledge, of the significance and moral quality of the act, but after having freely exercised a choice between resistance and assent. Submission of her body under the influence of fear or terror is no consent. There is a difference between consent and submission. Every consent involves a submission but the converse does not follow and a mere act of submission does not involve consent. Consent of the girl in order to relieve an act, of a criminal character, like rape, must be an act of reason, accompanied with deliberation, after the mind has weighed as in a balance, the good and evil on each side, with the existing capacity and power to withdraw the assent according to one's will or Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

pleasure. A woman is said to consent, only when she freely agrees to submit herself, while in free and unconstrained possession of her physical and moral power to act in a manner she wanted. Consent implies the exercise of a free and untrammelled right to forbid or withhold what is being consented to; it always is a voluntary and conscious acceptance of what is proposed to be done by another and concurred in by the former.

Our courts have even gone to the extent that even consent after the first act of rape does not absolve the accused, as it might purely be the result of sexual urge and would not affect the first act of coitus which has already taken place against her will. Therefore, as pointed out by Dr. Kenny in his Outlines of Criminal Law, 17th Edition (1958), although the offence of rape is usually effected by violence it has been decided that rape can e committed without the use of any violence, the essential point being that the woman's free conscious permission has not been obtained in the case of adults and in the case of girls below the age prescribed in the Sexual Offences Act, 1956, Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

consent is no defence and resistance need not be looked for."

30. Considering the question of misconception of fact in the light of the plea that consent was obtained on the promise of marriage, the Calcutta High Court in the decision reported in Jayanti Rani v. State of W.B. (1984 Cri.L.J. 1535) , after referring to Section 90 of I.P.C., held as follows:

"In the instant case before us the facts cannot be placed as high as that. Here the allegation of the complainant is that the accused used to visit her house and proposed to marry her. She consented to have sexual intercourse with the accused on a belief that the accused would really marry her. But one thing that strikes us is that if she had really been assured of marriage by the accused who was visiting her house and in whose promise she had faith, why should she keep it a secret from her parents if really she had believed the accused when he held out a promise, if he did at all there is no evidence that at that time the accused had no Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

intention of keeping that promise. If may be that subsequently when the girl conceived the accused might have felt otherwise. But even then the case in the petition of complaint is that the accused did not till then back out. Therefore it cannot be said that till then the accused had no intention of marrying the complainant even if he had held out any promise at all as alleged. The failure to keep the promise at a future uncertain date due to reasons not very clear on the evidence does not always amount to a misconception of fact at the inception of the act itself. In order to come within the meaning of misconception of fact, the fact must have an immediate relevance. The matter would have been different if the consent was obtained by creating a belief that they were already married. In such the consent could be said to result from a misconception of fact. But here, the fact alleged is a promise to marry we do not know when. If a full grown girl consents to the act of sexual intercourse on a promise of marriage and continues to indulge in such activity until she become pregnant it is an act of promiscuity on her part and not an act Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

induced by misconception of fact. S.90 IPC cannot be called in aid in such a case to pardon the act of the girl and fasten criminal liability on the other, unless the Court can be assured that from the very inception the accused never really intended to marry her."

31. In the decision reported in Vijayan Pillai @ Babu v. State of Kerala (1989(2) K.L.J. 234), it was held as follows:

"In order to prove that there was consent on the part of the prosecutrix, it must be established that she freely submitted herself while in free and unconstrained position of her physical and mental power to act in a manner she wanted. Consent is an act of reason accompanied by deliberation, a mere act of helpless resignation in the face of inevitable compulsion, non resistance and passing giving in cannot be deemed to be "Consent". Consent means active will in the mind of a person to permit the doing of the act of and knowledge of what is to be done, or of the nature of the act that is being done is essential to a consent to an act. Consent Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

supposes a physical power to act, a moral power of acting and a serious and determined and free use of these powers. Every consent to act involves submission, but it by no means follows that a mere submission involves consent."

32. In the decision reported in Jintu Das v. State of Assam (2003 Cri.L.J. 1411) the issue as to when a full grown woman consents to have sexual intercourse on a promise of marriage and continued to indulge in such activity and she conceived, question arose as to whether physical contact would be as a result of the consent of the woman concerned. The court held as follows:

"The prosecution relied solely on the evidence of the prosecutrix as regards the commission of sexual intercourse on her. She did not inform anybody about any rape committed on her by the accused-appellant. Only when her monthly course stopped for 3 months and the sign of pregnancy became apparent, she disclosed it to her mother Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

and the FIR was lodged after 3 months of the alleged occurrence. In her evidence she deposed that the accused impregnated her. On this point also there is no evidence save and except her own uncorroborated testimony. The doctor, P.w.4, examined her after 3 months. His evidence is silent about her pregnancy. Her statement that she became pregnant does not find corroboration from medical evidence. It cannot be said that the prosecution has succeeded in proving that the accused had sexual intercourse with her as a result of which she became pregnant. Even assuming that the accused had sexual intercourse with her, it has not been proved that he did so without her consent. In cross-examination, she categorically stated that she had been in love with the accused-appellant. They exchanged love letters. In view of the evidence as discussed above and in the facts and circumstances, the irresistible conclusion is that if the accused had sexual intercourse with her,, it was with her consent. This has been corroborated by circumstances that she did not tell anybody about the sexual intercourse with the accused-appellant Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

till she became pregnant. If a full grown consents to the act of sexual intercourse on a promise of marriage and continues to indulge in such activity until she becomes pregnant it is an act of promiscuity on her part and not an act induced by misconception of fact.

In this regard Mr. Baruah, learned counsel for the appellant has referred to a decision in Jayanti Rani Panda v. State of West Bengal wherein it has been stated "The failure to keep the promise at a future uncertain date due to reasons not very clear on the evidence does not always amount to a misconception of fact at the inception of the act itself. In order to come within the meaning of misconception of fact, the fact must have an immediate relevance. The matter would have been different if the consent was obtained by creating a belief that they were already married. In such the consent could be said to result from a misconception of fact. But here, the fact alleged is a promise to marry we do not know when. If a full grown girl consents to the act of sexual intercourse Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

on a promise of marriage and continues to indulge in such activity until she become pregnant it is an act of promiscuity on her part and not an act induced by misconception of fact. S.90 IPC cannot be called in aid in such a case to pardon the act of the girl and fasten criminal liability ....."

Mr. Baruah, learned counsel submits that the learned Sessions Judge convicted the accused-appellant u/s. 376 I.P.C. on the basis of the defence suggestion put to the prosecutrix, P.W.2 that the accused had sexual intercourse with her consent. Mr.Baruah has strenuously argued that the learned trial court was not justified in taking the aid of such suggestion in course of cross-examination. In support of his contention, he referred to a decision in Sakariya v. State of M.P. 1991 Cri.LJ 1925 wherein it has been held -

Where in case of a charge of rape under Section 376 Penal code, the statement of accused contained plaint denial and a plea of false implication, subsequent suggestion by the defence lawyer to the prosecutrix about consent on her part would not amount to admission of guilt on behalf of Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

the accused. A suggestion thrown by the defence counsel to a prosecution witness does not amount to an admission on the part of the accused. It is a common practice to suggest to a witness while he or she is under cross-examination, the case of the defence when such evidence or suggestion is denied. It does not constitute any evidence. Suggestions put are no evidence at all against the accused and on the basis of such suggestion no inference can be drawn against the accused that he admitted the fact suggested in the cross examination. The proof of guilty required of the prosecution does not depend on the suggestion thrown to a witness."

33. In the decision reported in Deelip Singh v. State of Bihar (2005(1) K.L.T. 18), it was held as follows:

"Consent given firstly under fear of injury and secondly under a misconception of fact is not 'consent' at all. That is what is enjoyed by the first part of S.90. These two grounds specified in S.90 are analogous to coercion and mistake of fact which are the familiar grounds that can vitiate a Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

transaction under the jurisprudence of our country as well as other countries. The factors set out in the first part of S.90 are from the point of view of the accused. It envisages that the accused too has knowledge or has reason to believe that the consent was given by the victim in consequence of fear of injury or misconception of fact. Thus, the second part lays emphasis on the knowledge or reasonable belief of the person who obtained the tainted consent. The requirements of both the parts should be cumulatively satisfied. In other words, the Court has to see whether the person giving the consent had given it under fear of injury or misconception of fact and the Court should also be satisfied that the person doing the act i.e. the alleged offender, is conscious of the fact or should have reason to think that but for the fear or misconception, the consent would not have been given. This is the scheme of S.90 which is couched in negative terminology. Consent supposes three things-- a physical power, a mental power and a free and serious use of them. Hence it is that if consent be obtained by intimidation, force, meditated imposition, Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

circumvention, surprise or undue influence, it is to be treated as a delusion, and not as a deliberate and free act of the mind. While we reiterate that a promise to marry without anything more will not give rise to 'misconception of fact' within the meaning of S.90, it needs to be clarified that a representation deliberately made by the accused with a view to elicit the assent of the victim without having the intention or inclination to marry her, will vitiate the consent. If on the facts it is established that at the very inception of the marking of promise, the accused did not really entertain the intention of marrying her and the promise to marry held out by him was a mere hoax, the consent ostensibly given by the victim will be of no avail to the accused to exculpate him from the ambit of S. 375 Clause secondly. The Court was cautious enough to add a qualification that no strait jacket formula could be evolved for determining whether the consent was given under a misconception of fact. Reading the judgment Uday's case as a whole, we do not understand the Court laying down a broad proposition that a promise to marry could Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

never amount to a misconception of fact. That is not, in our understanding, the ratio of the decision. In fact, there was a specific finding in that case that initially the accused's intention to marry cannot be ruled out."

34. In the decision reported in Uday v. State of Karnataka (AIR 2003 SC 1639) the same issue as to whether on a false promise when consent is obtained for sexual intercourse and when later the accused retracts from the promise, whether the act constitutes rape was considered. In paragraph 19 of the said decision, it was held as follows:

"In this background the learned Judge made the following observations :-

"The first point which attracts my attention is the second ingredient 'without her consent'. Consent always means free will or voluntary act. In this case consent was obtained on the basis of some fraud and allurement or practising deception upon the lady on the pretext that ultimately she will be married and under that pretext she allowed Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

opposite party No. 2 to have sexual intercourse with her. Therefore, this tainted consent or a consent of this nature which is based on deception and fraud, cannot be termed, prima facie, to conclude that it was 'with consent'. Had the lady known that ultimately she would be deserted, the facts and circumstances stated above and the materials placed would go to show that she would have refrained from giving such consent. Then a question would arise what was the purpose for which she gave consent. It was a fraud that was practiced on her or she was deceived by giving false assurance. Such type of consent must be termed to be consent obtained without her consent. Consent obtained by deceitful means is no consent and comes within the ambit of the ingredients of definition of rape."

In paragraph 25 it was held as follows:

"The question still remains whether even if it were so, the appellant knew, or had reason to believe, that the prosecutrix had consented to having sexual intercourse with him only as a Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

consequence of her belief, based on his promise, that they will get married in due course. There is hardly any evidence to prove this fact. On the contrary the circumstances of the case tend to support the conclusion that the appellant had reason to believe that the consent given by the prosecutrix was the result of their deep love for each other. It is not disputed that they were deeply in love. They met often, and it does appear that the prosecutrix permitted him liberties which, if at all, is permitted only to a person with whom one is in deep love. It is also not without significance that the prosecutrix stealthily went out with the appellant to a lonely place at 12 O'clock in the night. It usually happens in such cases, when two young persons are madly in love, that they promise to each other several times that come what may, they will get married. As stated by the prosecutrix the appellant also made such a promise on more than one occasion. In such circumstances the promise loses all significance, particularly when they are overcome with emotions and passion and find themselves in situations and circumstances where they, in a weak Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

moment, succumb to the temptation of having sexual relationship. This is what appears to have happened in this case as well, and the prosecutrix willingly consented to having sexual intercourse with the appellant with whom she was deeply in love, not because he promised to marry her, but because she also desired it. In these circumstances it would be very difficult to impute to the appellant knowledge that the prosecutrix had consented in consequence of a misconception of fact arising from his promise. In any event, it was not possible for the appellant to know what was in the mind of the prosecutrix when she consented, because there were more reasons than one for her to consent.

35. As to what constitutes consent was again considered in the decision reported in Yedla Srinivasa Rao v. State of A.P. ((2006) 11 SCC 615). The decision refers to the decisions reported in Jayanti Rani Panda's Case (supra), Deelip Singh's case (supra), Uday's case (supra) and it was held as follows:

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

"In R. v. Williams if a girl does not resist intercourse in consequence of misapprehension, this will not amount to a consent on her part. It was held that where a medical man, to whom a girl of fourteen years of age was sent for professional advise, had criminal connection with her, she making no resistance from a bona fide belief that he was treating her medically, he could be convicted for rape."

36. In the decision reported in Pradeep Kumar Verma v. State of Bihar (AIR 2007 SC 3059) the issue considered was whether the mere promise to marry a girl can constitute misconception of fact. In the said decision, it was held as follows:

"20. The first two sentences in the above passage need some explanation. While we reiterate that a promise to marry without anything more will not give rise to misconception of fact within the meaning of Section 90, it needs to be clarified that a representation deliberately made by the accused with a view to elicit the assent of the victim without Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

having the intention or inclination to marry her, will vitiate the consent. If on the facts it is established that at the very inception of the making of promise, the accused did not really entertain the intention of marrying her and the promise to marry held out by him was a mere hoax, the consent ostensibly given by the victim will be of no avail to the accused to exculpate him from the ambit of Section 375 clause second. This is what in fact was stressed by the Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court in the case of Jayanti Rani Panda's case (supra) which was approvingly referred to in Uday's case (supra). The Calcutta High Court rightly qualified the proposition which it stated earlier by adding the qualification at the end - unless the court can be assured that from the very inception the accused never really intended to marry her. (emphasis supplied). In the next para, the High Court referred to the vintage decision of the Chancery Court which laid down that a misstatement of the intention of the defendant in doing a particular act would tantamount to a misstatement of fact and an action of deceit can be founded on it. This is also the view taken by the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

Division Bench of the Madras High Court in Jaladu case (vide passage "ed supra). By making the solitary observation that a false promise is not a fact within the meaning of the Code, it cannot be said that this Court has laid down the law differently. The observations following the aforesaid sentence are also equally important. The Court was cautious enough to add a qualification that no strait-jacket formula could be evolved for determining whether the consent was given under a misconception of fact. Reading the judgment in Uday's case as a whole, we do not understand the Court laying down a broad proposition that a promise to marry could never amount to a misconception of fact. That is not, in our understanding, the ratio of the decision. In fact, there was a specific finding in that case that initially the accused's intention to marry cannot be ruled out."

37. In the decision reported in Pradeep Kumar v. State of Bihar (2007(4) K.L.T. 41 (SC)), the Apex Court had occasion to hold as follows:

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

"There are two grounds specified in S.90 which are analogous to coercion and mistake of fact which are the familiar grounds that can vitiate a transaction under the jurisprudence of our country as well as other countries. The factors set out in first part of S.90 are from the point of view of the victim and second part of S.90 enacts the corresponding provision from the point of view of the accused. It envisages that the accused has knowledge or has reason to believe that the consent was given by the victim in consequence of fear of injury or misconception of fact. Thus the second part lays emphasis on the knowledge or reasonable belief of the person who obtains the tainted consent. The requirements of both the parts should be cumulatively satisfied. In other words, the Court has to see whether the person giving the consent has given it under fear or misconception of fat and the court should also be satisfied that the person doing the act i.e. The alleged offender is conscious of the fact or should have reason to think that but for the fear or misconception, the consent would not have been given. This is the scheme of s.90 Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

which is couched in negative terminology. A promise to marry without anything more will not give rise to 'misconception of fact' within the meaning of S.90, it needs to be clarified that a representation deliberately made by the accused with a view to elicit the assent of the victim without having the intention or inclination to marry her, will vitiate the consent. If on the facts it is established that at the very inception of the making of promise, the accused did not really entertain the intention of marrying her and the promise to marry held out by him was a mere hoax, the consent ostensibly given by the victim will be of no avail to the accused to exculpate him from the ambit of S.375 clause second."

38. In the decision reported in Zindar Ali Sheikh v. State of West Bengal ((2009) 3 SCC 761) it was held as follows:

"26. ........The evidence about the cheating is of slip-shod nature and not believable. It is also self-effacing. After all, the first act of the sexual intercourse was without the consent and the accused had thereby, committed rape, however, the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

version that he gave a marriage promise, would really go against the prosecution, whereby, it would mean that the subsequent acts were done with the consent of the girl on account of the promise of marriage. We do not think that such could be the approach. After all, if the promise of marriage was given and the girl had succumbed on that account, by itself, may not amount to cheating. Besides this, the girl has very specifically stated that even subsequently, she was ravished against her wishes. Therefore, the theory of promise of marriage and the consent for sexual intercourse will wither away. We, therefore, acquit the accused of the offence under Section 417 of IPC."

39. In the decision reported in State of U.P. v. Manoj Kumar Pandey (AIR 2009 SC 711) it was held as follows:

"3. The approach of the trial court and the High Court is clearly unsustainable. Merely because the victim was more than 16 years of age as held by the trial court that cannot be a ground to hold that she was consenting party. No evidence was led to Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

show such consent. Apart from that normal rule regarding the duty of the prosecution to explain the delay in lodging FIR and the lack of prejudice and/or prejudice caused because of such delayed lodging of FIR does not per se apply to cases of rape. This has been the consistent view of this court. The High Court was, therefore, clearly wrong in disposing of the appeal in such cryptic manner. In the circumstances of the case, we set aside the order of the High Court and remit the matter to it for fresh hearing so that it can consider the matter and hear in detail and dispose of the same by a reasoned judgment. Whatever has been expressed by us supra is only for the purpose of coming to the conclusion that the manner of disposal of the appeal is not proper."

40. In the decision reported in State of U.P. v. Chhoteylal (AIR 2011 SC 697) it was held as follows:

" "Will is defined as wish, desire, pleasure, inclination, choice, the faculty of conscious, and especially of deliberate, action. It is purely and Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

solely a mental process to be ascertained, in a prosecution for rape, by what the prosecuting witness may have said or done. It being a mental process there is no other manner by which her will can be ascertained, and it must be left to the jury to determine that will by her acts and statements, as disclosed by the evidence. It is but natural, therefore, that in charging the jury upon the subject of rape, or assault with intent to commit rape, the courts should have almost universally, and, in many cases, exclusively, discussed "consent" and resistance. There can be no better evidence of willingness is a condition or state of mind no better evidence of unwillingness than resistance. No lexicographer recognizes "consent" as a synonym of willingness, and it is apparent that they are not synonymous. It is equally apparent, on the other hand, that the true relation between the words is that willingness is a condition or state of mind and "consent" one of the evidences of that condition. Likewise resistance is not a synonym of unwillingness, though it is an evidence thereof. In all cases, therefore, where the prosecuting witness Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

has an intelligent will, the court should charge upon the elements of "consent" and resistance as being proper elements from which the jury may infer either a favourable or an opposing will. It must, however, be recognized in all cases that the real test is whether the assault was committed against the will of the prosecuting witness. State v. Schwab, 143 N.E. 29"

17. Broadly, this Court has accepted and followed the judgments referred to in the above judicial dictionaries as regards the meaning of the word 'consent' as occurring in Section 375, IPC. It is not necessary to refer to all the decisions and the reference to two decisions of this Court shall suffice. In State of H.P. v. Mango Ram, a 3-Judge Bench of this Court while dealing with the aspect of 'consent' for the purposes of Section 375, IPC held at page 230 of the Report as under:

"Submission of the body under the fear of terror cannot be construed as a consented sexual act. Consent for the purpose of Section 375 requires voluntary participation not only after the exercise of intelligence based on the knowledge of the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

significance and moral quality of the act but after having fully exercised the choice between resistance and assent. Whether there was consent or not, is to be ascertained only on a careful study of all relevant circumstances."

18. In the case of Uday v. State of Karnataka4, this Court put a word of caution that there is no straitjacket formula for determining whether consent given by the prosecutrix to sexual intercourse is voluntary, or whether it is given under a misconception of fact. The Court at page 57 of the Report stated :

".......In the ultimate analysis, the tests laid down by the courts provide at best guidance to the judicial mind while considering a question of consent, but the court must, in each case, consider the evidence before it and the surrounding circumstances, before reaching a conclusion, because each case has its own peculiar facts which may have a bearing on the question whether the consent was voluntary, or was given under a misconception of fact.....".

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

41. In the above decision it was also observed that it is to be remembered in such cases that the victim of sexual assault is not an accomplice to the crime and her evidence cannot be tested with suspicion as that of an accomplice. It was pointed out that the evidence of prosecutrix is equated on bar with an injured witness and if the testimony of the prosecutrix is found to be reliable by itself may be sufficient to convict the culprit. It was held that in prosecutions of rape, law does not require corroboration.

42. In the decision reported in K.P. Thimmappa Gowda v. State of Karnataka (AIR 2011 SC 2564), it was held as follows:

"13. In the present case, the facts are that Rathnamma herself stated in her evidence that she had sex with the appellant on several occasions. It is also an admitted fact that the FIR against the appellant was lodged just a few days before the birth of Rathnamma's child, which means there is delay of over 8 months in lodging the FIR. The Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

finding of the trial court, which has not been disturbed by the High Court, is that Rathnamma was about 18 years of age at the relevant time. On these facts a view is reasonably possible that Rathnamma had sex with the appellant with her consent and hence there was no offence under Section 376, IPC because sex with a woman above 16 years of age with her consent is not rape."

43. A reading of the literature on the subject and also the decisions referred to above, it becomes clear that there is no straight jacket formula in ascertaining whether there is consent in a particular case. A decision has to be arrived at on the basis of the facts and circumstances of each case and in the light of the evidence adduced in the case. The following points emerge from the above discussion:

(i) In each case evidence will have to be appreciated independently.

(ii) There is no straight jacket formula to ascertain whether there is consent or not.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

(iii) Merely because the victim is aged above 16 years is not a ground to presume consent.

(iv) Girls of tender age can easily be induced away with promise of marriage. In such case, each case will have to be considered with reference to the evidence available in the said case.

(v) If a woman indulges in sex believing that the accused would marry her, consent may be inferred.

(vi) Mere promise of marriage without anything more does not constitute misconception of fact. But if the accused made a promise, knowing it to be false from the very inception, to the victim and had sexual intercourse and later retracts from his promise, certainly there is no consent at all.

44. Instances are several as in the present case where the victim indulges in sexual intercourse on the basis that the accused promised to marry the victim and the victim believes in that promise. True that a mature woman is Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

capable of knowing the pros and cons of her acts. In the decision reported in Jayanti Rani's case (supra) which has been followed by the Apex Court in several subsequent decisions, a distinction between promise to marry which makes a woman to give consent and a false promise made with the knowledge of the accused at the very inception itself that he has no intention to carry out his promise was brought out.

45. What is crucial is the observation in the said decision which reads as follows:

"Section 90 cannot be called in aid in such a case to pardon the ct of the girl and fasten criminal liability on the other, unless the court can be assured that from the very inception the accused never really intended to marry her."

46. It has to be noticed that Section 90 of I.P.C. falls in Chapter IV which deals with General Exceptions as already Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

noticed. But for the consent given by the victim, the act would be illegal and would amount to rape. It is axiomatic that consent is the linchpin of the offence.

47. The difficulty often arises when one is called upon to ascertain the state of mind of a person at a particular point of time. Whether the accused at the inception had the intention to deceive the victim or whether it was a subsequent promise of marriage or it was mere promise of marriage etc. are matters which are difficult to be ascertained. In order to come to the conclusion regarding the above matters, the conduct of the accused before, during or after the incident have to be considered.

48. In order to ascertain whether there is a consent on the part of the victim also, the same standard has to be applied. Her conduct before, during and after the incident has to be ascertained.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

49. The potential of consent lies in its authority to metamorphose an act that is wrong into one which the law will permit.

50. Here one has to refer to the evidence of P.W.1 again. P.W1 had worked in the shop belonging to the accused. Her definite case that they had fallen in love and he had promised to marry her. It was on the basis of that representation that they had indulged in physical contact. It was also true that on the subsequent occasions also they had freely engaged in sex. But it is significant to notice that on all points of time, P.W.1 was under the bona fide belief that the accused would marry her. In fact, she left her house on 10.7.2001 on the promise of the accused that the marriage would be registered at Wayanad. The evidence of P.W.1 is clear to the effect that frequently she had pointed out to the accused that the marriage had to be conducted, and on all Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

those occasions he had promised that he would marry her, but put it off under one pretext or another.

51. In the two houses where P.W.1, the victim, and the accused had stayed together, the evidence of P.W.1 shows that they were known to P.W.1 and P.W.1 and the accused had stayed in those houses on the basis of the representation made by P.W.1 that she and the accused were husband and wife. It is significant to notice that the version of P.W.1 is not seen challenged nor did accused take objection to the statements made by P.W.1.

52. It is here that one has to notice the defence taken.

53. As already noticed, Section 90 comes under the category of General Exceptions. Once it is shown that the consent is vitiated, then, the burden shifts to the accused to show otherwise.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

54. The stand of the accused was one of total denial. His case was that he had to terminate the services of the victim as she had indulged in financial irregularities while working under him and also that there was a property dispute between his mother and a close relative of the victim. There was no suggestion to P.W.1 that the sex which they had was with the consent of P.W.1 or there was never a promise of marriage made to P.W.1. There was also no suggestion to P.W.1 that she had gone along with the accused to Wayanad on her own will and without any inducement or allurement from his side and that there was no promise of marriage at Wayanad.

55. The fact that P.W.1 and the accused stayed in the house of P.W.2 and another person, is spoken to by those persons also. They both have identified the accused. The accused has no case that those persons were familiar to him and they were allowed to stay in the house on account of Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

acquaintance of P.W.1 with them. On the other hand, the victim has stated that it was on her representation that they were married that the persons concerned allowed them to stay in the respective houses.

56. It is significant to notice that the accused had left the victim at Wayanad and did not enquire about her thereafter. P.W.1 was hospitalized for a while and then she was brought back home. These facts spoken to by P.W.1 is not seen challenged in cross-examination. Therefore, as regards the testimony of P.W.1 regarding the circumstances under which she and the accused had sex and also the reasons for her to go along with the accused stand unimpeached. In fact, to a suggestion in cross-examination that she had indulged in sex with the accused on her own volition and decision, she replied that it was only because the accused had promised to marry her.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

57. True, P.W.1 had engaged in sex with the accused on a number of occasions. It is also true that she was aged more than 20 at the relevant point. She should have been aware of the pros and cons of her acts. She is a mature lady. But one cannot forget that the accused had promised to marry her and that inducement or allurement offered to P.W.1 made her to act as she did. As far as the accused is concerned, he knew at the very inception itself that he had no intention to marry the victim, but promise of marriage was made only to procure her consent to have sex. If that be so, the so-called consent claimed by the accused is not a valid consent.

58. The contention raised by the learned counsel for the appellant that the frequent sex which the accused and the victim had and the fact that the victim had voluntarily gone along with the accused militate against the theory of rape cannot be countenanced.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

59. It is not a case where there was a mere promise to marry and the victim had consented for sex. It is a clear case where she was induced or lured to have sex from the very beginning itself under the promise of marriage which the accused knew was a false representation and that he had no intention to marry her. Under these circumstances, the decisions relied on by the learned counsel for the appellant that indulging in sex by a lady who had attained the age of 18 on the promise of marriage does not constitute rape cannot be applied to the facts of the present case.

60. It is very clear from the conduct of accused that he procured consent of P.W.1 for sex on the promise of marriage and he had in fact taken her to Kalpetta under the pretext of registering their marriage, a representation which from the very inception the accused knew was false.

61. Considering the evidence in this case, it could not be said that the court below was justified in coming to the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

conclusion that the evidence under Sections 366 and 376 of I.P.C. have been made out.

62. However, the finding of the court below that the offence under Section 3(1)(xii) of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is made out cannot be sustained. In the light of the decision reported in Stephen Joseph v. State of Kerala (2013 (2) K.L.T. 58) unless the offence has been committed on the basis of racial prejudice, the provisions of the Act cannot be invoked. There is no case for the prosecution that the victim was subjected to sexual intercourse due to racial prejudice. Therefore, conviction for the offence under the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act has necessarily to be set aside.

63. The appellant has filed Crl.M.A. 1819 of 2013 under Sections 391 and 482 of Cr.P.C. seeking to have certain documents produced before this court which according to the Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

learned counsel for the appellant, have material bearing on the issue involved and which needs to be looked into.

64. The documents so produced are certain letters alleged to have been written by the victim to the accused. It can be seen from the testimony of P.W.1 when she was specifically asked whether she had written any letters asking the accused to meet her, she categorically denied the same. Even inspite of the specific denial, the appellant did not feel it necessary to have the letters produced and have it properly brought in evidence. No reason is given as to why they could not be produced at the trial stage. Cogent and convincing reasons will have to be given as to why the letters now produced could not be made available at the trial stage. No satisfactory reason is given as to why those documents should be admitted in evidence in this case. Therefore, Crl.M.A. 1819 of 2013 is dismissed.

Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

65. Coming to the sentence, the trial court has awarded rigorous imprisonment for eight years for the offence under Section 366of I.P.C. Similarly, for the offence under Section 376 of I.P.C. also sentence of rigorous imprisonment for eight years and fine of Rs.1,00,000/- with a default clause has been imposed.

66. Learned counsel appearing for the appellant contended that the sentences are too harsh and severe and going by the facts and circumstances of the case some leniency be shown with regard to the sentence.

67. The evidence and the facts referred to above shows that P.W.1 was taken for a ride by the accused. At all points of time he kept alive the promise of marriage and indulged in sex. Ultimately, he abandoned her. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, it is felt that no leniency regarding the sentence is also warranted. Crl.Appeal.614/2006.

The result is that this appeal is without merits and it is only to be dismissed. I do so confirming the conviction and sentence passed by the court below with regard to the offence punishable under Sections 366 and 376 of I.P.C., but setting aside the conviction and sentence passed by the court below for the offence punishable under Section 3(1)(xii) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and the accused shall stand acquitted for the offence under Section 3(1)(xii) of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

P. BHAVADASAN, JUDGE sb.

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