Supreme Court flags dangers in rape case settlements

The Supreme Court has cautioned courts against quashing criminal cases involving serious offences, particularly rape, merely because the accused and complainant have reached a settlement, observing that a trial could be the best way to establish whether a complaint was false and motivated by the prospect of a financial settlement or whether the compromise was secured through coercion.

The Supreme Court has cautioned courts against quashing criminal cases involving serious offences, particularly rape, merely because the accused and complainant have reached a settlement, observing that a trial could be the best way to establish



whether a complaint was false and motivated by the prospect of a financial settlement or whether the compromise was secured through coercion.

“...we cannot but reiterate our caution insofar as false accusations being raised on the lure of a financial settlement and also on the other hand settlements, motivated by coercion,” a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran observed.

The bench made the observations while setting aside a Madhya Pradesh High Court order that had quashed a rape complaint against a man by invoking its inherent powers after the parties reportedly entered into a compromise.