The Telangana High Court has recently declared that false accusations against a husband’s relatives in matrimonial disputes, based on general and vague allegations, can misuse the legal process if not checked.
In a case where the husband allegedly harassed his wife physically and mentally for additional dowry, the wife’s brother-in-law was also accused of molestation and was booked under Section 354 of the IPC. The brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and mother-in-law all approached the High Court seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against them.
The respondents’ counsel argued that there was enough evidence to frame charges against the petitioners and requested the trial court to proceed with the case, dismissing the petitions as meritless.
However, the High Court noted, “She resisted the alleged incident that occurred before 28.02.2007. If the allegations against the brother-in-law were true, being a software engineer, she would have taken action after 12.06.2007, the date she claimed he molested her. These allegations do not satisfy the essential elements of the offence under Section 354 IPC and seem to have been made with ulterior motives.”
The High Court found that the husband’s relatives were implicated based on vague allegations without specific instances of involvement in the alleged offences. Therefore, it deemed the criminal proceedings should be quashed to prevent them from undergoing unnecessary trial.
Justice A. Santhosh Reddy stated, “From the complaint, F.I.R., charge sheet, and witness statements, there is no sufficient prima facie material to proceed against the petitioners for the alleged offences.”
Given these findings, the High Court allowed the petition.
Case Title: P. Rajeshwari And Another v. The State of A.P. Another
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