A bench led by Justice Ram Manohar Narayan Mishra allowed a revision plea, challenging the rejection of the discharge application under Section 245 CrPC by an Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Gorakhpur. The case involves accusations of matrimonial cruelty and dowry demands.
Complainant Alka Rani, in her 2004 complaint, accused her in-laws, including sisters-in-law Lakshmi Poddar and Sunita Tulsyan, of pressuring her for a pregnancy abortion. The court summoned the accused under various sections, and their discharge plea was dismissed in October 2022.
The revision plea argued that the sisters-in-law were already married during the complainant’s wedding and living in distant places. The High Court noted the absence of medical evidence supporting the allegations and referenced Supreme Court judgments highlighting the misuse of Section 498 of IPC in matrimonial disputes.
Observing the failure to consider the role of the sisters-in-law and the potential for false implication, the High Court directed a fresh hearing for their discharge plea
Case title – Lakshmi Poddar @ Shikha Poddar And Another vs. State of U.P. and Another
