The Karnataka High Court has quashed an FIR and chargesheet filed against a US-based man by his wife and granted him the liberty to initiate action for malicious prosecution. The order was passed by Justice M. Nagaprasanna, who observed that the wife had misused the law to harass her husband.
The couple married in May 2020, after which the husband moved to the US on his H1B visa. In January 2021, the wife left the matrimonial home to stay with relatives. Despite being given four appointments till May 2021, she failed to attend visa formalities and only secured her visa in September 2021.
By December 2021, their relationship had deteriorated. The husband filed for divorce in Bengaluru and also lodged a police complaint. In February 2022, the wife countered with a case under the Dowry Prohibition Act, alleging that her husband had abandoned her, blocked communication, and was unwilling to share his annual income of over ₹2 crore. She further accused him of suffering from a sexually transmitted disease.
The husband contested these claims, stating that medical tests, including those for HPV infection, proved false. He alleged that his wife’s primary motive was financial gain, pointing out that she demanded ₹3 crore after failed conciliation attempts.
Justice Nagaprasanna noted that the wife had already received 614 grams of silver and 160 grams of gold as streedhana and found no evidence of dowry demand or cruelty in the chargesheet. The Court also highlighted an email from December 2021 in which the husband had sought confirmation about her travel to the US, contradicting her claim that he never intended to take her abroad.
Calling the case a gross misuse of law, the Court quashed the proceedings and held that the husband is free to initiate legal action for malicious prosecution under Section 211 IPC if he so chooses.
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