In a recent ruling, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has levied a fine of ₹50,000 on a woman for filing a criminal complaint against her ex-husband, which was deemed as an attempt to harass him and an abuse of the judicial process. The court described her actions as “wreaking vengeance” after her divorce, which was granted by mutual consent, had already been upheld by both a family court and the Uttarakhand High Court.
Background of the Case
The couple, who married in Ludhiana in 2003 and have two children, legally parted ways in September 2014 through a mutual consent divorce decreed by a family court in Roorkee. Despite this, the woman later accused her ex-husband of fraudulently obtaining the divorce without providing any permanent alimony and even engaging in physical relations with her post-divorce under false pretences.
Her subsequent legal actions to overturn the divorce decree were dismissed by the family court, and although she initially appealed to the Uttarakhand High Court, she later withdrew her appeal. Nevertheless, she proceeded to file a new complaint in a Punjab court in 2016, leading to the man being summoned under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code in June 2017.
Judicial Findings
Justice Sumeet Goel of the Punjab and Haryana High Court scrutinized the procedural adherence of the summoning order under Section 202(1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which necessitates a preliminary inquiry or investigation when the accused resides outside the court’s jurisdiction. The court found that this mandatory procedure was not followed, especially as the accused and the events in question were linked to areas outside of Ludhiana’s jurisdiction.
The High Court also noted that the woman’s continued legal actions lacked merit, as evidenced by the repeated rejection of her applications to set aside the divorce. “The liberty reserved in favor of the respondent by the Hon’ble Uttarakhand High Court to take recourse in law (if advised) does not permit the filing of the criminal complaint in question,” Justice Goel clarified.
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Conclusion and Costs
Concluding that the complaint constituted a gross abuse of legal processes, the court quashed the complaint, the summoning order, and all related proceedings. The woman was ordered to pay the imposed costs of ₹50,000 to the trial court within eight weeks.
Advocate PK Dwivedi represented the petitioner, while Advocates GBS Gill and Shilesh Gupta defended the complainant in this high-profile case.
