In a landmark judgment, the Allahabad High Court has quashed the criminal proceedings against the relatives of a man accused of dowry harassment, while allowing the trial against the husband to proceed. The case, Application U/S 482 No. 19062 of 2024, was adjudicated by Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery.
Case Background
The case involved a matrimonial dispute where the wife alleged that her husband and his family subjected her to cruelty and made repeated demands for dowry, including a sum of Rs. 5,00,000 and a Bolero car. The FIR was lodged on February 25, 2023, under Sections 498-A, 323, 504, 506 IPC, and Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The husband had previously filed a divorce petition on October 19, 2022, which the defense argued was the catalyst for the FIR.
Legal Issues Involved
1. Allegations of Cruelty and Dowry Demands: The wife accused the husband and his family of making dowry demands and subjecting her to physical and mental cruelty.
2. Misuse of Section 498A IPC: The defense contended that the FIR was a retaliatory measure against the divorce petition, aimed at harassing the husband and his family.
3. Quashing of Criminal Proceedings: The applicants sought to quash the criminal proceedings on the grounds that the allegations were general and lacked specific details.
Court’s Observations and Decision
The court made several critical observations:
1. General and Omnibus Allegations: The court noted that the allegations against the husband’s relatives were general and lacked specific details, which do not constitute a prima facie case under Section 498A IPC. Citing the Supreme Court’s judgment in Kahkashan Kausar @ Sonam and others vs. State of Bihar and others (2022), the court highlighted the misuse of Section 498A IPC in matrimonial disputes.
2. Specific Allegations Against Husband: The court found that the allegations against the husband were more specific and had some substance. Therefore, it decided not to quash the proceedings against him.
3. Quashing of Proceedings for Relatives: The court quashed the criminal proceedings against the husband’s relatives, stating that the allegations were not specific enough to warrant a trial. The court reiterated that the power to quash should be used sparingly and only when the allegations do not prima facie constitute an offence.
Important Observations
The court made several important observations in its judgment:
– “The foundation of a sound marriage is tolerance, adjustment, and respecting one another. Tolerance to each other’s fault to a certain bearable extent has to be inherent in every marriage. Petty quibbles, trifling differences are mundane matters and should not be exaggerated and blown out of proportion to destroy what is said to have been made in heaven.”
– “In matrimonial disputes, the main sufferers are the children. The spouses fight with such venom in their heart that they do not think even for a second about the effect on their children if the marriage ends.”
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Case Details
– Case Number: Application U/S 482 No. 19062 of 2024
– Bench: Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery
– Lawyers: Syed Shahnawaz Shah (for the applicants), Mukesh Chandra Gupta, Shubham Prakash Gupta (for the opposite party)
