The Bombay High Court recently ruled that in order to prove an offense under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), continuous acts of cruelty must be shown, and they should occur close to the time of filing the complaint. This ruling came as the Court quashed an FIR against two elderly in-laws involved in a matrimonial dispute with their daughter-in-law.
A division bench, composed of Justice Anuja Prabhudesai and Justice NR Borkar, was hearing a petition filed by the 80-year-old father-in-law and 75-year-old mother-in-law, who were charged under Section 498A based on a complaint by their daughter-in-law. The complainant, married to the adopted son of the petitioners since 2018, lived with her husband in Dubai before returning to stay with her in-laws in India.
The daughter-in-law alleged that her mother-in-law would instigate arguments over minor issues, and her father-in-law frequently taunted her. She also claimed that her husband subjected her to both mental and physical cruelty.
However, the High Court found no prima facie evidence of the in-laws’ involvement in any cognizable offense. The bench noted that despite an interim court order, the investigating officer proceeded to file a chargesheet, disregarding the judicial directive.
The Court further criticized the investigating agency, stating that the arbitrary actions, such as freezing the petitioners’ bank accounts, forced them to borrow money for survival. The judges condemned these high-handed actions, stressing that they violated the petitioners’ right to live with dignity.
The Court also noted that dragging innocent individuals into a matrimonial dispute without solid evidence leads to mental trauma, loss of reputation, and violation of personal liberty. In this case, the elderly in-laws had been wrongfully implicated in the dispute, and the Court quashed the FIR against them.
This decision highlights the importance of proving continuous acts of cruelty, rather than isolated incidents, when filing a complaint under Section 498A. It also underscores the Court’s commitment to protecting individuals from wrongful accusations in matrimonial cases.
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