Breach of Promise to Marry Later Does Not Amount to Cheating Without Dishonest Intent from the Beginning: Orissa High Court

The Orissa High Court at Cuttack has delivered a landmark judgment, ruling that a promise to marry made by a man, which he later refuses to fulfill, does not automatically amount to cheating under Section 417 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Justice Sibo Sankar Mishra, in his judgment on July 30, 2026, emphasized that the prosecution must prove that the promise was false from the very beginning and was…