Overview

• Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh unanimously refused to cancel Ankit Barnwal’s anticipatory bail in the promise-to-marry rape case.
• The bench admonished the married woman that she might face prosecution for committing an offence by having sex outside her marriage.
• The Patna High Court had granted bail after finding there was no sexual activity between Barnwal and the woman following her March divorce.
• The woman, who met Barnwal through social media in 2016, alleged he drugged and assaulted her in July 2022 and later blackmailed her.
• The ruling reflects the Supreme Court’s evolving standards for anticipatory bail and caution against criminalizing consensual extramarital affairs.