Bombay High Court: Offence Under Section 498A Needs Proof of Continuous Cruelty
The Bombay High Court recently clarified that to prove an offence under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, there must be continuous acts of cruelty against the woman, especially close to the time she files the complaint.
A division bench of Justice Anuja Prabhudesai and Justice NR Borkar made this observation while hearing a plea by an elderly couple aged 80 and 75, who were accused under Section 498A by their daughter-in-law.
The woman, who married the couple’s adopted son in 2018, lived with her husband in Dubai. After returning to India, she stayed with her in-laws and later filed a complaint, alleging that her mother-in-law picked fights over small issues, and her father-in-law taunted her. She also claimed that her husband abused her mentally and physically.
Despite a previous interim order by the court, the police went ahead and filed a chargesheet. The court criticized this and said the investigating officer had tried to ignore the court’s order, which is unacceptable and wrong.
The court also noted that the police had frozen the elderly couple’s bank accounts, forcing them to borrow money from relatives just to survive. The judges said this violated their basic right to live with dignity.
“Freezing the accounts was arbitrary and against the law. This harsh action left the petitioners struggling to meet daily needs,” the bench stated.
The judges added that there was no clear evidence that the in-laws committed any cognizable offence, yet they were unfairly dragged into a marital dispute.
“Forcing innocent people to go through court proceedings without any proof affects their mental health, dignity, and personal freedom,” the court said.
Finally, the High Court quashed the FIR and said that subjecting someone to a trial without clear evidence causes unnecessary suffering and harms their reputation.
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