The Allahabad High Court has discharged Congress Member of Parliament Rakesh Rathore in a rape case, holding that the investigative records pointed to a long-standing consensual extramarital relationship between two mature adults rather than an offence committed under a false promise of marriage.
In an order issued on Friday, the high court’s Lucknow bench overturned a trial court decision dated May 5, 2025, which had dismissed Rathore’s discharge plea and proceeded to frame charges against him. Ruling on the matter, Justice Subhash Vidyarthi stated that allowing the criminal proceedings to continue on contradictory and unsupported allegations would amount to an abuse of the legal process and lead to a miscarriage of justice.
Findings On Consensual Relationship
Justice Vidyarthi observed that the complainant’s claim of being lured into physical relations on the pretext of marriage failed to establish a prima facie case raising strong suspicion against the lawmaker. The bench noted that the prosecution’s version of events could not be accepted by a person of ordinary prudence.
The high court also addressed procedural aspects, affirming that the trial court’s prior action of framing charges did not extinguish the high court’s revisional jurisdiction to determine whether the discharge application was legally warranted.
Origins Of The Complaint
The legal proceedings stemmed from a first information report registered in January 2025 at the Kotwali police station in Sitapur under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code. In her complaint, the woman alleged that Rathore had raped her in 2020 and subsequently maintained an ongoing relationship by promising to divorce his wife and marry her.
Evidence And Testimonies
Court records revealed that the complainant initially met Rathore at public events, where he extended political backing and an alliance. Following this interaction, she accepted an appointment as the district women president of the Tailik Mahasangh, leading to greater proximity between the two.
The bench also reviewed statements from the complainant’s husband, married son, and daughter-in-law, who had supported her claims. Among these, the husband recounted that Rathore frequently invited the woman to his residence, where she sometimes stayed late into the night.
After assessing these circumstances, the court concluded that the evidence pointed to a prolonged consensual relationship between two married individuals, directly undermining the allegation of sexual assault committed on the pretext of marriage.
