In a recent judgment, the Allahabad High Court upheld a lower court’s decision rejecting a discharge plea in a dowry death case, asserting that the essence of a matrimonial relationship could be established without a formal marriage if the couple lived as husband and wife.
The case involved a man, living in a live-in relationship with the deceased woman, who challenged a Prayagraj sessions court’s decision that denied his request for discharge. The petitioner claimed that the deceased was legally married to another man, Rohit Yadav, and no formal divorce had taken place before she entered into a live-in arrangement with him.
Justice Raj Beer Singh, dismissing the petitioner’s claims, stated, “For the purposes of Sections 304-B (dowry death) and 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the IPC, it is sufficient to show that the victim woman and the accused man were residing as husband and wife at the relevant point of time.”
The court examined the details provided by both parties, noting that even though the woman was not formally divorced from Yadav, she and the petitioner had subsequently lived together in a manner akin to a married couple. The additional government advocate highlighted that the woman had divorced Yadav and later married the petitioner in court, contrary to the petitioner’s assertion. Moreover, allegations surfaced that the woman was subjected to dowry-related harassment by the accused, culminating in her suicide on the premises shared with the petitioner.
The High Court emphasized that the legal nuances surrounding their marital status could only be thoroughly examined during the trial and should not influence the preliminary proceedings of the case.
