CRL.M.C. 3061/2025 & CRL.M.A. 13572/2025
Ankit Raj v. State of NCT of Delhi and Others
A Single Bench of Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma remarked, “The law governing offence of rape is intended to protect the bodily integrity and autonomy of women and to punish those who exploit them by force or by deception which vitiates free consent. It is not designed to become a tool in disputes where two consenting adults, fully aware of their choices and the attendant consequences, subsequently fall apart. Adults entering into intimate relationships must take responsibility for the decisions they voluntarily make, including the emotional, social, or legal risks inherent in such relationships. When a complainant, being an educated and independent woman, willingly continues to engage in such a relationship even with knowledge of the petitioner’s marital status, it cannot thereafter be said that she was misled or exploited in law.”