The Case Said He Never Meant To Marry Her. Then They Married.
A prosecution under Section 69 of the new Penal Code has been ended in full — and the Court took care to say this is not a rule for every such case.
The Court quashed the FIR, the chargesheet, the order taking cognizance, the committal to the Court of Sessions, the order rejecting the discharge application and all consequential proceedings, under its inherent jurisdiction in Section 528 of the BNSS. There was no material showing a dishonest or fraudulent intention at the inception, and continuing the proceedings would be an abuse of the process of the Court.
- Intention at the inception is the test, not what happened afterwards.
- Section 528 BNSS is the new home of the inherent jurisdiction that used to sit in Section 482 CrPC.
- The Court fenced its own order. It is not a general proposition that every false-promise case falls away on a subsequent marriage.
- Everything went together — FIR, chargesheet, cognizance, committal and the rejected discharge.
- Court
- High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur
- Bench
- Justice HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE RAVINDRA KUMAR AGRAWAL
- Citation
- CRMP No. 2236 of 2026
- Case
- CRMP No. 2236 of 2026
- Decided
- 25 August 2026
- Outcome
- Petition allowed; entire proceedings quashed and petitioner discharged
What was quashed
The FIR of 18 February 2026 registered at Police Station Katghora, District Korba, for the offence punishable under Section 69 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The chargesheet of 16 and 17 April 2026, the order of 15 May 2026 by which the Judicial Magistrate First Class took cognizance and committed the matter to the Court of Sessions, and the order of 13 August 2026 rejecting the discharge application in the special case before the District and Additional Sessions Judge.
All further proceedings arising out of the FIR, including the special case, stand quashed and brought to an end, and the petitioner stands discharged.
The reasoning
There was nothing to show a promise of marriage made with a dishonest or fraudulent intention from the inception.
Continuing the criminal proceedings would therefore not serve the ends of justice and would amount to an abuse of the process of the Court.
The Court was satisfied the petition deserved to be allowed in exercise of its inherent jurisdiction under Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita.
The limit the Court put on its own order
Before parting, the Court clarified that the order was passed having regard to the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case — the nature of the allegations, the material collected during investigation, the subsequent solemnisation of marriage between the parties, the categorical stand of the complainant, and the absence of material showing a fraudulent or dishonest intention at the inception of the relationship.
It is not to be construed as laying down any general proposition that every case alleging a false promise to marry is liable to be quashed merely because the parties later married.
Who argued it
Appearances as recorded in the judgment of the Court.
Frequently asked
Does marrying the complainant end a false-promise case?
Not automatically. The Court expressly said it was not laying down any such general proposition.
What replaced Section 482 CrPC?
Section 528 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, which is what the Court exercised here.
Seeking to quash a Section 69 prosecution
- Direct the whole case at intention at the inception; later conduct is context, not the test.
- Put the complainant's own current stand on record clearly and categorically.
- Go through the investigation material and show what is absent, rather than disputing what is there.
- Ask for the committal and the rejected discharge to be quashed too, or the case survives the FIR.
Source. High Court of Chhattisgarh at Bilaspur, CRMP No. 2236 of 2026, decided 25 August 2026 by Justice HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE RAVINDRA KUMAR AGRAWAL. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.
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