The Karnataka High Court has shut the door on anticipatory bail for a police constable accused of staging a symbolic marriage, sustaining a relationship on the promise of formal acceptance, and later disowning the woman—all, she alleges, because she belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
According to the complaint, the constable conducted an informal ‘marriage’ before a photo of Lord Sai Baba and continued a physical relationship under repeated assurances of legitimacy. But when the moment came to acknowledge the relationship publicly, he allegedly dismissed her—not for lack of affection, but for her caste.
What followed was a criminal case invoking multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with serious charges under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, a statute that places stringent restrictions on pre-arrest bail.
A High Court Bench, after examining the accusations, held that the allegations struck directly at the core protections of the SC/ST Act. Once those ingredients were present, the Court said, the statutory bar on anticipatory bail stood firm.
The complainant, herself a police constable, maintained that the relationship began with a private ceremony at her home and continued on promises that the constable would eventually acknowledge the marriage. When he allegedly turned violent after she demanded clarity, she approached the police.
The accused had attempted to secure relief first before the Sessions Court and then before the High Court, insisting the allegations were fabricated and rooted in workplace disagreements. But the Bench found enough material to conclude that offences under the special law were, at least on the face of it, made out.
With that, the plea for anticipatory bail was dismissed—leaving the case to proceed on its unsettled questions of trust, coercion, and caste prejudice.
