REPORTABLE

                  IN THE SUPREME COURT OF  INDIA             CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION   

             CRIMINAL APPEAL NO.  107   OF 2006

AMAR BAHADUR SINGH ..  APPELLANT(S)

vs.

STATE OF U.P. ..  RESPONDENT(S)

O  R D E R

The respondents have been served but they are not  

represented before us.

As per the prosecution story on the 2nd April, 1989  

at about 11.45 p.m. the prosecutrix, the daughter in law of  

Santu, was sleeping in her in laws' house along with her  

daughter and other family members. Her husband was however  

away to the Punjab in connection with his employment. On an

alarm raised by the prosecutrix all those at home woke up  

and  saw  that  the  appellant  was  committing  rape  on  the  

prosecutrix.  The appellant was accordingly apprehended on  

the spot with the help of a police party which was passing  

close by.   It was also noticed that the prosecutrix was  

bleeding  from  her  private  parts.   The  appellant  was  

accordingly brought to the police station where a report  

was lodged and a case under Section 376 of the IPC was  

registered.   

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The Trial Court relying on the evidence of PW.1 the  

prosecutrix, PW.2 Santu, her father-in-law, and PW.6, her  

sister-in-law, held that the case against the accused was  

made out and accordingly sentenced him to undergo R.I. for  

seven years.  The matter was thereafter taken in appeal to  

the High Court and the High Court while observing that the  

facts  of  the  case  indicated  that  the  prosecutrix  was  a  

consenting party thought that in the circumstance it was a  

fit case where the sentence ought to be reduced from seven  

to five years.  The appeal was nevertheless dismissed with  

the reduction in the quantum of sentence.  This appeal by  

way of special leave is now before us.

We have heard the learned counsel for the appellant.  

He has  raised only one argument before us.  He has pointed  

out that the prosecutrix was 26 years of age as on the date  

of the incident and was the mother of seven children and

the very fact that the rape had been allegedly committed in  

her house not only in the presence of her children and  

other  family members,  the story itself appeared to be  

unacceptable.  It  has  also  been  highlighted  that  in  the  

background of  the fact that the High Court had observed  

that the prosecutrix was a consenting party the accused  

ought to have been acquitted on that basis alone.   

We find merit in this plea.  We find that under the  

circumstance the possibility that rape could have been  

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committed on her in the presence of so many members in a  

small house is difficult to believe.  On the contrary the

findings  of  the  High  Court  that  the  prosecutrix  was  a  

consenting party appear to be correct and it was perhaps  

when the accused and the prosecutrix had been caught red-

handed  that  the  story  of  rape  had  been  cooked  up,  to  

salvage  some  of  the  family  honour.  This  is  often  the  

tendency in such matters. The High Court has therefore gone  

completely wrong in dismissing the appeal even after its  

categoric observations. We accordingly allow the appeal,  

set aside the conviction of the appellant and order his  

acquittal.  The appellant is on bail; his bail bonds are  

discharged.

                   .................J.         (HARJIT SINGH BEDI)

                                         ....................J.

                                 (CHANDRAMAULI KR. PRASAD)

New Delhi, January 25, 2011.