The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently ruled that merely naming family members in a complaint under Section 498A IPC is not enough to take legal action against them if there is no proof of their active involvement in the alleged dowry harassment.
The bench of Justice Rajendra Kumar Verma heard a petition seeking to quash an FIR registered under Sections 498A, 323, and 34 of the IPC, along with Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. The case was also pending in a Family Court.
In the case, the complainant—the wife—alleged that after her marriage to the son of the petitioners (the husband’s parents), she was harassed by her husband and in-laws. She claimed that they demanded ₹10 lakhs as dowry on several occasions and mentally harassed her to get money from her family.
However, the petitioners’ lawyer, Mr. Deeptanshu Shukla, argued that the FIR lacked the basic ingredients needed for charges under Section 498A and 323 IPC. He also pointed out that both families had equally shared wedding expenses, as mentioned in an affidavit by the wife’s father.
The Court observed that the wife had lived with her in-laws for a long time but never raised such allegations earlier. No prior complaints or reports had been filed, and the FIR was lodged nearly five years after the marriage.
The Court found that the allegations were vague and general and seemed to have been made without any concrete evidence. Referring to the Supreme Court ruling in Geeta Mehrotra vs State of U.P., the Court reiterated that casually including multiple family members in FIRs without proof of active involvement misuses the legal system.
Quoting the judgment, the bench stated:
“If names are included without proper evidence, it results in abuse of the judicial process.”
As a result, the High Court quashed the FIR and all related legal proceedings, providing relief to the petitioners.
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