The High Court
Case Details
IN THE HIGH COURT OF ORISSA AT CUTTACK BLAPL No.2785 of 2025 Pradip Sahoo @ Pradeep Sahoo …. Petitioner(s) Mr. Rakesh Behera, Adv. State of Odisha -versus- …. Opposite Party(s) Miss Gayatri Patra, ASC CORAM: HON’BLE DR.JUSTICE S.K. PANIGRAHI Order No. F.I.R. Police No. Station 0001 19.01.2025 Mahila Dated P.S Sections Sections 64, 351(2), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita
Decision
ORDER 01.05.2025 Case No. and Courts’ Name Rourkela Mahila P.S Case No.01 of 2025 corresponding to G.R Case No.166 of 2025 pending in of Court the learned S.D.J.M (P), Rourkela 01. 1. This matter is taken up through hybrid arrangement. 2. Heard learned counsel for the Petitioner and learned counsel for the State. 3. The Petitioner being in custody in connection with Rourkela Mahila P.S Case No.01 of 2025 corresponding to Signature Not Verified G.R Case No.166 of 2025 pending in the Court of learned Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 09-May-2025 19:46:51 S.D.J.M (P), Rourkela registered for the alleged commission of offence under Sections 64, 351(2), 3(5) of the Page 1 of 6 Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has filed this application for his release on bail. 4. The brief fact of the case is that the informant used to visit her friend’s house regularly. During course of such visit the father and brother of her friend developed relationship with her. The sister-in-law of the Petitioner used to give her clothes to the informant for stitching. On 13.10.2024, in order to get her clothes stitched, the sister-in- law of the Petitioner called the informant to her home where she offered some sweets to the informant. After having the said sweets the informant became senseless. Taking advantage of her senseless, the Petitioner kept physical relationship with the informant and captured her nude photographs. Thereafter, the Petitioner forced the informant to keep physical relationship with him unless he will make the said photographs viral. Thereafter, without getting any idea the informant lodged an F.I.R before the local Police Station. Accordingly, upon lodging of the F.I.R and completion of investigation the Petitioner was arrested and has been languishing in custody since 21.01.2025. 5. Learned counsel for the Petitioner submits that the Signature Not Verified Petitioner has been falsely implicated in the present case. Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 09-May-2025 19:46:51 There is also no credible material on record to connect him to the alleged offenses. The Petitioner has been in custody since 21.01.2025. In light of these facts, learned counsel for Page 2 of 6 the Petitioner prays for releasing the Petitioner on bail, as continued detention is unjustified in the absence of substantial evidence. 6. Learned counsel for the State vehemently opposes the bail application, contending that the Petitioner is an accused of serious and heinous offenses. It is submitted that the Petitioner established physical relationship with the victim under false assurances of marriage. Given the egregious nature of allegations and the potential for evidence tampering, learned counsel for the State strongly opposes grant of bail to the Petitioner. 7. This Court finds it necessary to observe that in cases pertaining to the allegations of sexual offences arising from relationships developed on the basis of a purported promise of marriage, the issue of consent must be approached with careful consideration. While the law recognizes that consent obtained through deception or coercion may not be valid, it is equally important to acknowledge the principle of sexual autonomy, which presumes that an individual is capable of making voluntary choices unless demonstrably impaired. Allegations that consent was vitiated solely on the ground Signature Not Verified of a failed promise may not, in every case, constitute an Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 09-May-2025 19:46:51 offence, particularly where the nature of the relationship suggests mutual engagement over a sustained period. Premature conclusions regarding lack of consent, in the Page 3 of 6 absence of clear indicators of coercion or bad faith, may cause unfair prejudice. Each case must, therefore, turn on its own facts, and courts must tread cautiously in drawing inferences at the pre-trial stage. 8. This Court had an occasion to deal with a case of similar facts to this case i.e. in CRLMC No.4485 of 2024 (Manoj Kumar Munda –vrs. State of Odisha & Anr.) wherein the Petitioner/ alleged accused had challenged the proceeding initiated against him for commission of the alleged offences under Sections 376(2)(a), 376(2)(i), 376(2)(n), 294, 506, and 34 of the I.P.C. This Court vide judgment dated 14.02.2025 taking into account the various judicial pronouncements of the Supreme Court had made an elaborate discussions on the concept of consent and the issue of sexual autonomy and allowed the CRLMC No.4485 of 2024 quashing the proceedings against the Petitioner. The ordering portion of the said judgment is extracted herein below: “36. The legal system, by criminalizing sex under a “false promise of marriage,” upholds this performative construct, one that assumes that women engage in sexual relationships only as a prelude to matrimony, rather than as autonomous agents of their own desires. 37. In its pursuit of justice, the law must not become an instrument of moral policing. It must acknowledge that sexual agency is not a promise, nor is it a contract that mandates a predetermined Page 4 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 09-May-2025 19:46:51 outcome. To assume otherwise is to deny women the full measure of their autonomy, desire, and choice, reducing them to mere bearers of honour, rather than as individuals possessing an intrinsic right to their own bodies and decisions. … 39. It light that the automatic criminalization of failed relationships under the guise of “false promise of marriage” must be scrutinized. The assumption that every physical relationship between a man and a woman carries the implicit condition of matrimony is not a principle of law but a vestige of control.” in this is 9. Considering the facts and circumstances, and keeping in view the submissions of the learned counsel for the Petitioner, and the view taken in Manoj Kumar Munda (supra), this Court is of the view that the Petitioner should be granted bail by the court in seisin over the matter in the aforesaid case. This Court, accordingly, directs the court in seisin over the matter to release the Petitioner on bail in the aforesaid case on some stringent terms and conditions with further conditions that:- i. ii. iii. iv. the the Petitioner shall appear before concerned in every local Police Station fortnight between 10.00A.M. to 1.00P.M. till conclusion of the trial; the Petitioner shall not indulge himself in any criminal activities in future; the Petitioner shall not tamper the evidence of the prosecution witnesses in any manner; the Petitioner shall clean the premises of the Rourkela Mahila Police Station in the morning hour (7.00 A.M to 9.00 A.M.) for two months Page 5 of 6 Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 09-May-2025 19:46:51 from the date of his actual release in the aforesaid case. The I.I.C of the Rourkela Mahila Police Station shall provide the cleaning articles like broom and other items to the Petitioner so that he can clean the said premises. Violation of any of the above conditions shall entail cancellation of the bail. 10. The BLAPL is, accordingly, disposed of. Judge (Dr. S.K. Panigrahi) Ayaskanta Signature Not Verified Digitally Signed Signed by: AYASKANTA JENA Designation: Personal Assistant Reason: Authentication Location: High Court of Orissa Date: 09-May-2025 19:46:51 Page 6 of 6