New Delhi, May 29 -- The Delhi high court has held that subsequent marital disputes or acrimony cannot justify reviving a rape case that was quashed after an amicable settlement and marriage between the parties.

Justice Amit Mahajan, in an order released on May 22, observed that allowing concluded criminal proceedings to be reopened after later matrimonial discord would defeat the very purpose of the law permitting courts to quash private and matrimonial disputes based on voluntary settlements.

"If every subsequent matrimonial disagreement, breakdown of marriage, or allegation arising after quashing were permitted to revive concluded criminal proceedings, no order passed on the basis of settlement or reconciliation would ever attain fin...