The Bombay High Court ruled that a husband’s relatives cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) just for advising a wife to tolerate her husband’s cruel behavior. The court made this observation while hearing a petition to cancel a First Information Report (FIR) registered under Sections 498-A, 376, and 34 of the IPC.
The petitioners in this case were relatives of the main accused, the husband of the complainant (respondent No. 2). The FIR alleged that after her marriage, the complainant faced physical and emotional abuse from her husband and in-laws, leading to two miscarriages. She also accused her husband of having extramarital affairs and forcing her into unwanted physical relations. The complaint stated that her in-laws did not intervene and instead advised her to tolerate the mistreatment.
While some of the accused were dismissed from the case by the trial court, others, including the petitioners, were not. However, the bench of Justice Bharati Dangre and Justice Manjusha Deshpande found that the allegations against the husband’s relatives were vague and lacked specific examples of cruelty or harassment.
The court noted that simply supporting the husband during certain incidents mentioned in the complaint does not amount to committing the alleged offenses. The bench stated, “It would be unfair to continue prosecution against the petitioners for the actions of the main accused, in which they seem to have been unnecessarily dragged.”
After reviewing the case details, the court found that none of the witness statements supported the claims of mistreatment or cruelty by the petitioners. The court also acknowledged a growing trend of litigants falsely accusing in-laws and relatives in 498A cases.
The court referred to a 2024 Supreme Court decision, Achin Gupta vs. State of Haryana, where the SC urged lawmakers to reconsider Section 498A of the IPC. Despite earlier rulings like Preeti Gupta vs. State of Jharkhand (2010), necessary reforms in this law have yet to be made.
In conclusion, the Bombay High Court quashed the FIR in relation to the petitioners.
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