Kerala High Court Dismisses Criminal Case Against Woman’s Partner, Declares Marriage Not Legal in Cruelty Allegation

Based on this, the Court observed that an essential ingredient to attract an offence under Section 498A of the IPC is that cruelty must be committed by the husband or relatives of the husband.

Kochi: The Kerala High Court has dismisses criminal case against a man charged under Section 498A of the IPC (cruelty by husband or relatives against a married woman) by his “wife.” The court ruled that without documentation establishing a legal marriage between the parties, prosecution for cruelty against him or his relatives is not permissible.

The case involves a marriage between the petitioner (husband) and the de facto complainant (wife), which was declared null and void by a family court in 2013 after it was found that the wife’s previous marriage was still in effect and had not been dissolved.

The high court stated that, as the marriage has been declared null and void, there is “no legal marriage in the eyes of the law.”

“It is unequivocally clear that, in the absence of a legal marriage, the woman’s partner does not attain the status of her husband, and an offence under Section 498A of the IPC applies only to a husband or his relatives. Therefore, without a legal marriage as reflected in the records, Section 498A cannot apply to a woman’s partner or the partner’s relatives, as a partner without legal marital status is not considered a husband,” the court held.

The complainant claimed that the petitioner subjected her to cruelty during their time at the matrimonial home after their marriage, which took place on November 2, 2009. The man’s counsel argued that no legal marriage existed between the parties to warrant prosecution under Section 498A for cruelty.

In response, the Court noted that a key requirement for an offence under Section 498A of the IPC is that cruelty must be inflicted by the husband or his relatives.

“The petitioner, as the first accused, never held the status of a husband at any time, as the marriage was null and void from the outset and later officially declared so. Therefore, the prosecution’s claim that the petitioner committed an offence under Section 498A read with Section 34 of the IPC does not hold and warrants quashing. Consequently, this petition is allowed,” the court ruled, dismissing the criminal case and proceedings against the man.