New Delhi, March 7 -- From conviction for rape to exoneration under the Constitution's broadest equity powers -- the Supreme Court has wiped out a ten-year jail term of a man after recording that he had since married the woman and that the couple was happily living together, but made it clear that the acquittal would survive only so long as he does not abandon her. The bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, noted that the relief was exceptional and conditional, while cautioning that any attempt by the man to desert his wife would revive the conviction. "In light of the subsequent events that the appellant and respondent No.2 got married, we deem it appropriate to invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution.The appellant shall stand acquitted for all intents and purposes, however, subject to the condition that he will continue to maintain a cordial relationship and will not desert respondent No.2 - his wife," stated the bench in its recent order. The criminal case arose out of what the Supreme Court described as an affair between the accused and the girl, who was a minor at the time of the sexual relationship. He was convicted under Section 376(2)(n) of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with rape, read with Section 6 of the Pocso Act, which prescribes punishment for penetrative sexual assault on a minor....