Consent obtained under a misconception of fact, such as a false promise of marriage, does not constitute valid consent under Section 375 IPC.

ORDER

The applicant has filed this revision under Section 397/401 of Cr.P.C. assailing the order dated 20.04.2022 passed in Sessions Trial No.42/2022 by the Fifth Additional Sessions Judge, Tikamgarh, framing the charge against the applicant under Sections 376(2)(n) and 306 of the Indian Penal Code .

2. Learned counsel for the applicant has submitted that in view of the facts and circumstances of the case and the material placed by the prosecution before the Court at the time of framing of charge in relation to Crime No.361/21, the material ingredients for framing the charge under Sections 376(2)(n) and 306 of IPC were not available and even after considering the said material, the offence under Sections 376(2)(n) and 306 of IPC is not made out and, therefore, the impugned order, according to counsel for the applicant, is liable to be set aside as the trial Court did not apply its mind in appropriate manner so as to see that the material ingredients constituting the alleged offence were missing and as such, no case is made out against the present applicant and the charge could not have been framed.

3. To resolve the controversy involved in the matter, it is necessary to mention the brief facts of the case, which are as under:-

3.1 The policemen of Police Station Baldevgarh, District Tikamgarh registered an offence vide FIR No.361/21 on the basis of the information given by complainant Vivek Jain that the daughter of Arun Kumar Jain has committed suicide in her room by hanging herself and as such, merg intimation No.47/21, under Section 174 of Cr.P.C. got registered and thereafter, the matter was enquired.

3.2 During the course of enquiry, the police seized a Samsung mobile and a register in which the deceased had expressed her emotions. As per the material seized by the police, the deceased and present applicant, who was the resident of Sendhwa District Badwani were in affair. According to the complainant, the present applicant was creating pressure upon the deceased for getting married but later on he refused to enter into the marriage with the deceased. The said denial of marriage by the present applicant created unpleasant situation for the deceased and as such, she committed suicide. The police registered the offence presuming that the present applicant created pressure upon the deceased for committing suicide and during the course of investigation, an offence under Section 376(2)(n) was also registered in addition to Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code .

3.3 The incident occurred on 12.08.2021 and the FIR got registered on 03.10.2021. The age of the deceased was shown as 21 years and as per the postmortem report, no injury marks were seen on external or internal parts of the body and the hymen was also found intact. The statement of father of the deceased was also recorded wherein he has stated that his daughter hung herself to death on 12.08.2021. He has further stated that four years prior to the date of incident, the present applicant who was working as an Engineer came from Sendhwa to Baldeogarh and was residing in the house of one Birchandra Jain as a tenant. He has further stated that the deceased used to go to the house of the landlord of the present applicant as her friend was also residing in the said house. He has deposed that the applicant told the deceased that he will teach her English and very often the deceased used to go to the house of the present applicant to learn English and during that period only the present applicant trapped her in a false affair. According to the father of the deceased, the applicant created pressure upon the deceased to get married to him and accordingly he agreed for solemnizing the marriage according to the Hindu rites and went to the present applicant's house on 10.07.2021 to discuss about the marriage with his family members but they gave several excuses and kept postponing the marriage on the pretext of discord etc. in the family and the present applicant continued to harass the