Appeal under Section 374 Cr.P.C. against conviction under Section 376 IPC and sentence of eight years' rigorous imprisonment with ₹15,000/- fine passed by the Additional Sessions Judge (Special, Fast Track Court-1), Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi. The trial court had itself disbelieved administration of any intoxicant (acquitting under Section 328 IPC) and the offence of cheating (Section 417 IPC). Held (Chandrasekharan Sudha, J.): (i) the FIS dated 18.06.2013 contained no reference to the alleged 01.08.2012 incident of drugging and rape, which surfaced for the first time in the Section 164 statement dated 29.07.2013 — a material omission bearing on credibility; (ii) medical examination on 19.06.2013, nearly ten months after the incident, could not substantiate rape, and no medical or scientific material supported the charge; (iii) the evidence of family-level marriage discussions, meetings and continued association did not unerringly establish that the promise of marriage was false from inception — at best it reflected a relationship that did not culminate in marriage; (iv) PW1's continued contact with the accused till June 2013, joint travels, and the about-ten-month delay in lodging the FIR, coupled with subsisting marriage negotiations, assumed significance in assessing consent; (v) the presence of the accused's sisters in the house rendered the drugging-cum-rape account improbable, though their non-examination was not fatal; (vi) on the very same evidence on which the accused was acquitted under Sections 328 and 417 IPC, conviction for rape could not be sustained where material omissions and surrounding circumstances generate reasonable doubt, notwithstanding that conviction may rest on the sole testimony of the prosecutrix. Overall, the prosecution failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the intercourse on 01.08.2012 was without consent under Section 375 IPC or that consent was vitiated by misconception of fact under Section 90 IPC. Conviction and sentence set aside; appellant acquitted under Section 235(1) Cr.P.C., set at liberty, bail bond cancelled. (Paras 18–29)
