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 set aside criminal proceedings initiated against a woman’s in-laws, who were accused under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (pertaining to cruelty by a husband or his relatives). The complaint had been lodged shortly after she received summons in her husband’s divorce case.
A bench comprising Justices Manmohan and Manoj Misra took into consideration the timing of the complaint and the substance 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 abuse and mental harassment, and alleged that her in-laws taunted her and withheld her salary.
Previously, the Gujarat High Court had rejected the husband’s plea to quash the FIR. However, the Supreme Court criticized the High Court for taking a “narrow and overly technical” view, stating that it had failed to consider the overall context and circumstances of the case.
The Court observed that the complaint was lacking in specific details and pointed out that the complainant had been living independently and was employed full-time for several years before filing the case. Concluding that the allegations against the in-laws were vague and unsubstantiated, 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 took note of the fact that the complainant’s own parents and uncle had urged her to remain patient for the sake of the family. In light of this, it held that continuing the prosecution against the parents-in-law would constitute an abuse of the legal process.
However, the Court refused to quash the proceedings against the husband, noting that the complaint contained specific allegations of cruelty that merited a full trial.
As a result, the FIR and criminal proceedings against the parents-in-law were quashed, while the case against the husband will move forward as per the law.