The High Court of Karnataka, in a judgment pronounced on October 25, 2025, has quashed criminal proceedings for rape, defined under Section 64 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, initiated against a 23-year-old man, Mr. Sampras Anthony.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna , allowing Writ Petition No. 31144 of 2024, held that permitting the prosecution to continue against the petitioner would be “nothing but a ritualistic procession towards miscarriage of justice and indeed become an abuse of the process of the law,” after observing that chats between the parties indicated the acts were consensual.

Background of the Case

The judgment details that the petitioner and the 2nd respondent (the complainant) first became acquainted through the dating application ‘Bumble’. They subsequently “nurtur

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