Courts must be circumspect in taking allegations made under Section 498A IPC at face value, particularly when a divorce case is ongoing, the Court said.
The Supreme Court recently dismissed criminal proceedings against a woman’s in-laws under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which addresses cruelty by a husband or his relatives. The complaint was filed shortly after she received summons in her husband’s divorce case.
A bench of Justices Manmohan and Manoj Misra examined both the timing of the complaint and the nature of the allegations, observing that—
“In matters arising from matrimonial disputes, particularly where the allegations are levelled after many years of marriage and, that too, after one party initiates divorce proceeding against the other, the Court must be circumspect in taking the allegations at their face value. Rather, it must examine, where allegations of mala fides are there, whether those allegations have been levelled with an oblique purpose. More so, while considering the prayer of the relatives of the husband.”
The couple had been married since 2005. In May 2019, the husband filed for divorce, and just three days after receiving the summons, the wife filed a police complaint. She accused her husband of physical and mental abuse, alleging that her in-laws had taunted her and withheld her salary.
Previously, the Gujarat High Court had rejected the husband’s request to quash the FIR. However, the Supreme Court criticized this ruling, stating that the High Court had taken a “narrow and overly technical” approach and failed to consider the broader context of the case.
The Court observed that the complaint lacked specific details and noted that the complainant had been living independently and working full-time for several years before filing the case. Finding the allegations against the in-laws to be vague and unsupported, the Court decided to quash the proceedings against them.
“As against the parents-in-law, the allegations are only of extending taunts and of not parting with the money for managing household expenses…A few taunts here and there is a part of everyday life which for happiness of the family are usually ignored,” the Court said.
The Court also considered that the complainant’s parents and uncle had advised her to remain patient for the sake of the family. In light of this, the Court concluded that continuing the prosecution against the in-laws would constitute an abuse of the legal process.
However, the Court chose not to quash the proceedings against the husband, pointing out that the complaint contained specific allegations of cruelty that justified a full trial.
Consequently, the FIR and criminal proceedings against the in-laws were dismissed, while the case against the husband will proceed in accordance with the law.
