Order on Board

Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice

1. Heard Mr. Shailendra Dubey, learned counsel for the petitioner as well as Mr. Sourabh Sahu, learned Panel Lawyer, appearing for the State/respondent.

2. By filing the present petition, the petitioner has prayed for following relief(s):-

“I. That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to allow the instant petition under section 528 of BNSS 2023 filed by the petitioners.

II. That, the Hon'ble Court may kindly be pleased to Quash the FIR bearing No. 637/2025 dated 14/12/2025, registered at Police Station Bilha, District Bilaspur (Chhattisgarh) for the alleged offences under Sections 64(2) (m) and 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and charge-sheet bearing No. 29/2026, and all consequential proceedings arising in criminal case 126/2025 there from, in the interest of justice;

III. That, Grant any other relief(s) as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit, proper, and appropriate in the facts and circumstances of the case.”

3. Brief facts of the case, in a nutshell, are that the petitioner is a duly elected Gram Sarpanch of his village and a respectable member of society. He was married in the year 2005 and is blessed with six children, with whom he resides along with his family members. The victim, on the other hand, is a 30-year-old married woman whose marriage was solemnized in the year 2007 and she is the mother of five children aged about 16, 15, 14, 10 and 3 years respectively. In the month of March, 2025, the victim had approached for preparation of a Nirashrit (destitute) card, during which she came into contact with the petitioner and thereafter both parties started communicating over mobile phone and subsequently met again during a village festival at Bodsara.

4. It is the case of the prosecution that during the period from March, 2025 to November, 2025 the petitioner and the victim remained in contact and allegedly developed physical relations. Thereafter, on 14.12.2025, the victim lodged a written complaint at Police Station Bilha, District Bilaspur, which was registered as FIR No. 637/2025 for offence under Section 64(2)(m) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita against the petitioner. During the course of proceedings, the petitioner approached this Hon’ble Court by filing an application for anticipatory bail, which was registered as MCRCA No. 69 of 2026, and this Court vide order dated 14.01.2026 was pleased to grant anticipatory bail to the petitioner. Subsequently, after completion of investigation, the Investigating Agency filed charge-sheet No. 29/2026 dated 29.01.2026 before the competent Court for the offences punishable under Sections 64(2) (m) and 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Being aggrieved by the registration of the FIR and the filing of the charge-sheet, and contending that the allegations even if taken at their face value do not disclose commission of any offence, the petitioner has preferred the present petition seeking appropriate relief from this Court.

5. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that even if the entire prosecution case is taken at its face value, the allegations clearly disclose that the relationship between the petitioner and the victim was consensual and voluntary between two major adults. It is contended that the victim herself was a married woman and mother of five children at the relevant point of time and was fully aware of her marital status as well as the legal and social consequences of entering into any relationship. In such circumstances, the allegation that the petitioner induced her into physical relations on the pretext of marriage is inherently improbable and legally unsustainable, particularly when marriage between the parties was legally impossible in view of their subsisting marriages.

6. It is further submitted that for attracting criminal liability on the ground of consent obtained under misconception of fact, it must be established that such misconception related to a legally possible and believable fact and tha