Asking Wife to Do Household Chores Not Cruelty: Bombay High Court Quashes 498A FIR
The Bombay High Court recently ruled that asking a married woman to do household work for the family does not amount to cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court stated that such work cannot be compared to treating her like a maid.
Justice Rajesh S. Patil delivered the judgment while hearing a plea filed under Section 482 of CrPC. The petition sought to quash an FIR registered under IPC Sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 read with Section 34.
In the case, the wife alleged that she was treated well for the first month after marriage but was later treated like a maid. She further claimed that her husband and in-laws demanded ₹4,00,000 to buy a car. When she said her father could not pay, her husband allegedly harassed her both mentally and physically.
However, the High Court clarified that doing household work is a common part of married life, and unless the woman had clearly said before or soon after marriage that she would not do it, it cannot be seen as cruelty.
The bench examined the FIR and witness statements and found that while the woman mentioned mental and physical harassment, no specific incidents or details were given. The court said that vague statements do not fulfill the legal requirements of Section 498A, which needs clear and detailed acts of cruelty to be proven.
The court also said that the other sections mentioned in the FIR — Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult), and 506 (criminal intimidation) — were not supported by separate facts and were already covered under Section 498A.
As there was no substantial evidence to support the allegations, the court ruled that asking the husband and in-laws to face trial would be pointless and quashed the FIR.
Case Title: Sarang Diwakar Amle v. State of Maharashtra
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