The Gujarat High Court recently clarified that a woman can file a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC (which deals with cruelty by husband or his relatives) even after divorce, but only if the cruelty happened while the marriage was still valid.
This decision came in response to a petition filed by the woman’s ex-husband and his relatives. They had requested the court to cancel the FIR registered under IPC Sections 498A, 494, 294(b), 323, 114, and 506(2).
According to the FIR, the woman, Sonalben, accused her in-laws of mental and physical harassment. She alleged that they provoked her husband to assault her, forced her to take medicines to abort her pregnancy, and later abandoned her at her parental home. She also claimed that her husband later remarried, which pushed her to file the complaint.
At the time of filing the complaint, her divorce was already finalized.
The High Court pointed out that the main charges in the FIR were under Sections 498A and 494. It explained that while Section 498A uses the words “husband” and “relatives of the husband”, it also uses the broader term “woman” rather than “wife”. This means that a divorced woman can still file a 498A case, but only if the cruelty happened during the time she was legally married.
However, in this case, the court noted that the FIR did not mention any cruelty or harassment during the marriage. Instead, the allegations appeared to be about incidents that happened after the divorce.
As a result, the court ruled that:
“The FIR does not meet the legal requirements of offences under Sections 498A and 494. Allowing the case to continue would be unjust and a misuse of the legal process.”
Therefore, the Gujarat High Court quashed the FIR and all related proceedings, bringing relief to the accused.
📁 Case Title:
Rameshbhai Danjibhai Solanki & 7 Others vs State of Gujarat & 1 Other
Petition Type: Writ Petition under Section 482 CrPC
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