Supreme Court acquits rape accused in 23-year-old case after finding act was consensual, girl was above age of consent

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside the conviction of a rape accused in a 23-year-old case after noting that act in question was consensual and the girl had attained the age of consent at the time of the incident [Manak Chand vs State of Haryana]..A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, CT Ravikumar and Sudhanshu Dhulia noted that the testimony of the girl in question did not inspire confidence either."The prosecution has not successfully proved that the prosecutrix was less than sixteen years of age at the time of the alleged commission of the crime, and therefore the benefit ought to have been given to the appellant. Secondly, as to the factum of rape itself ... we do not find any evidence which may suggest that the appellant, even though had sexual intercourse with the prosecutrix, it was against her will or without her consent," the bench observed..The incident in question took place in 2000 at the matrimonial home of the alleged survivor's sister. The case of the prosecution was that the families initially tried to settle the matter and get the accused Manak Chand and the girl married.However, a criminal complaint was lodged after the accused's family turned down the proposal. The girl was around 16 at the time.The age of consent was raised from 16 to 18 years only in 2012.A trial court convicted the accused for rape in 2001 and sentenced him to seven-years rigorous imprisonment. This was upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court in 2014 leading to the present appeal before the apex court. .The top court in its judgment stated that the survivor's age was not examined properly by the courts below. It noted that the age had been determined on the basis of a school register and transfer certificate but the latter was not produced before the Court. Further, the same register had noted that the girl had come to school on the day of the alleged incident but this fact was ignored by the courts below. "This is not a fair appreciation of evidence, to say the least, as same school register is the only basis for the determination of the age of the prosecutrix," the bench stated observing that her age being below 16 was not conclusively proved.Further, the medical report as well as the version of the girl's mother said that she was 16 years old at the time of the incident. "However, as per her medical examination and in the doctor’s report, the prosecutrix is sixteen years of age. Moreover, the version of the mother of the prosecutrix herself is that the prosecutrix was sixteen years of age," the Court noted.The minimum age difference between the accused and the woman apart from the lack of injuries suggest it was a consensual act, the apex court concluded."The only factor which could have made the consensual aspect immaterial and made it a case of ‘rape’ was the age of the prosecutrix. The medical evidence, however, points out that she is more than 16 years of age," the Court underlined. .Therefore, the appeal was allowed and order of conviction by the courts below were set aside..Advocates Jay Kishor Singh, Mohit Raj and Hemant Sharma appeared for the accused.Advocates Samar Vijay Singh, Sanjay Kumar Tyagi, Keshav Mittal, and Sabarni Som appeared for the Haryana government..[Read Judgment]