Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi (SHP)

New Delhi, Oct 11: The Delhi High Court has moved to a wider acceptance from 'no means no' to a 'yes means yes' over a sexual context.

The court upheld the notion that a sexual relationship jilted by a man or a woman over frail reason is not an offence. This judgement came in after the man was acquitted of a rape case lodged by a woman who he promised to marry.

"Jilting a lover, however abhorrent it may seem to some, is not an offence punishable under the Indian Penal Code,” the court said, adding that "two consenting adults establishing a physical relationship, is not a crime."

The woman's claim that she was enticed into having a physical relationship on the pretext of marriage was not deemed as a man raping her. The court then established the infirmity the case carried. The court also observed that the woman had spent time with the man at a hotel in 2016, after three months of the alleged rape.

The woman had then lodged an FIR in 2016, alleging rape by the man. She claimed to have developed a friendship with the man which later turned into an affair. The man allegedly promised to marry her after being in a relationship for a long time.

In 2016, he invited her to his house to meet his mother but when she reached there, she found out that his mother was not at home and he allegedly raped her.

As per the court, "Such inducement in a given moment may elicit consent, even though the concerned party may want to say no. Such false inducement given to exploit the other party would constitute an offence."

“However, it is difficult to accept that continuing with an intimate relationship, which also involves engaging in sexual activity, over a significant period, is induced and involuntary, merely on the assertion that the other party has expressed its intention to get married,” the judge added.