The Bombay High Court recently dismissed a rape case against a man following a mutual agreement between him and the survivor. As part of the resolution, the court instructed the man to pay Rs 5 lakh to the Advocates’ Association of Western India within four weeks.

A division bench of the high court, consisting of Justice PD Naik and Justice NR Borkar, presided over a hearing for a petition filed by the accused seeking to dismiss the rape case through mutual consent.

The purported incident took place on May 21, 2023, when, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, the victim accompanied the accused and allegedly endured sexual assault. Following this, a First Information Report (FIR) was lodged by the Khar Police, and subsequently, the accused was granted anticipatory bail by the Sessions Court.

After the accused sought to quash the FIR by appealing to the high court, the complainant also consented to dismiss the case. In its ruling, the high court noted that a statement from the complainant's friend indicated that the victim had willingly accompanied the accused.

“The statement of one of the witnesses indicates that she is a friend of the victim. She had accompanied the victim and accused. She left their company. ''