In a significant judgment, the Karnataka High Court has granted a 35-year-old man the liberty to prosecute his wife under Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code for malicious prosecution, following her false accusations of dowry harassment against him. This legal provision targets those who falsely charge others with committing crimes.
Justice M. Nagaprasanna delivered the verdict, quashing the criminal case initiated against the husband based on a chargesheet filed by Bengaluru city police in 2022. The judgment comes after a detailed examination of the evidences which revealed a misuse of the judicial system by the wife.
According to court observations, the wife had not only accused her husband of demanding dowry and avoiding consummation of their marriage due to alleged health issues but also suspected him of having sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). However, medical tests, including those for HIV and syphilis from Victoria Hospital, returned negative, and further examinations in the U.S. found no evidence of any such infections.
The court also highlighted the discrepancies in the wife’s accusations regarding their planned move to the U.S. Despite being granted a visa, she failed to attend multiple scheduled interviews and eventually did not travel, blaming her husband for lack of communication.
Further undermining her credibility, the statements from her own family members contradicted her allegations, denying any dowry demands or harassment.
The court’s ruling emphasized the absence of any factual basis in the wife’s claims, noting the extensive judicial time wasted over baseless allegations. The decision marks a rare instance of the judiciary acknowledging the potential harm of legal system abuse in personal disputes.
Also Read
The couple, married in May 2020, has seen all attempts at conciliation fail, with the wife demanding ₹3 crore for settlement, leveraging her husband’s annual income of over ₹2 crore.
