Overview
- Delivering judgment on February 16, 2026, Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas altered the conviction to Sections 376/511 IPC and reduced the sentence to three years and six months with a ₹200 fine.
- The court upheld six months’ imprisonment for wrongful confinement under Section 342 IPC, ordered set‑off for time already served, and directed the accused to surrender within two months.
- The ruling held that ejaculation without proven penetration amounts to attempt to rape under the then‑prevailing Section 375 IPC, which treats penetration as the sine qua non of rape.
- The decision turned on inconsistencies in the survivor’s statements about penetration, medical findings of an intact hymen with only possible partial penetration, and FSL detection of human sperm.
- The case stems from a May 21, 2004 incident in Dhamtari; a trial court in 2005 had imposed seven years for rape, and the High Court’s modification has since drawn public criticism, including from musician Vishal Dadlani.