Overview
- Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan made the remarks during a Supreme Court hearing on a man’s bail plea in a rape case premised on an alleged false promise of marriage.
- The bench said a boy and a girl are ‘strangers’ before marriage and cautioned that ‘nobody should believe anybody before marriage,’ urging circumspection about pre-marital physical relationships.
- The court indicated these matters may not be suited for trial and conviction where the relationship appears consensual and asked counsel to explore mediation and compensation.
- According to the complaint, the pair met on a matrimonial site in 2022, had relations in Delhi and Dubai, and the accused allegedly recorded intimate videos without consent and threatened their circulation.
- Earlier bail pleas were rejected by the trial court and the Delhi High Court, which on November 18, 2025, noted prima facie that the marriage promise was false given the man’s prior marriage and a subsequent wedding on January 19, 2024.