DNA Evidence Cannot Prove Lack of Consent: Delhi High Court Upholds Rape Acquittal

Case Title: KXXXXX v. THE STATE GOVT. OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR

Case No.: CRL.A. 320/2026

Coram: Justice Madhu Jain

Court Observation

“The said evidence is undoubtedly significant as it establishes the fact of sexual intercourse between the parties. However, the DNA report by itself does not establish the circumstances in which such intercourse took place, nor does it determine whether the relationship was consensual or non- consensual,”

“This inconsistency assumes significance since the prosecution itself attributes the alleged absence of consent during the first incident to the administration of an intoxicating substance and the consequent condition of the prosecutrix,”

“The present case is therefore not one where material evidence has been wholly ignored or where the conclusion of acquittal is demonstrably unsustainable. The learned Trial Court has examined the evidence and arrived at a conclusion which is reasonably possible on the material before it,”

DNA Evidence Cannot Prove Lack of Consent: Delhi High Court Upholds Rape Acquittal