In a major development in marital disputes, the Supreme Court has given major respite to in-laws asserting that a few taunts here and there by them against a woman doesn’t tantamount to cruelty, rather they are part of family lives. The apex court made these remarks while quashing criminal proceedings against a woman’s in-laws in a complaint under Section 498A (cruelty by husband and family members) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). This followed summons that were served in her husband’s divorce petition.
After taking note of the timing of the complaint, the nature of the allegations, the bench of Justices Manmohan and Manoj Misra said, “In matters arising from matrimonial disputes, particularly where the allegations are levelled after many years of marriage and, that too, after one party initiates divorce proceeding against the other, the Court must be circumspect in taking the allegations at their face value. Rather, it must examine, where allegations of mala fides are there, whether those allegations have been levelled with an oblique purpose. More so, while considering the prayer of the relatives of the husband.”
Case details
The estranged couple had been married since 2005. But in May 2019, the husband moved a petition seeking divorce. After receiving summons, his wife filed a police complaint three days later. In her complaint, she accused her husband of physically and mentally harassing her. She also accused her in-laws of subjecting her to taunts and withholding her salary.
Earlier, the Gujarat High Court dismissed the husband’s plea seeking quashing of the FIR. Reacting sharply, the apex court noted that the state High Court had “adopted an extremely pedantic approach” adding that it failed to consider the broader circumstances of the case.
The court noted that the complaint lacked specific details. The complainant had been living separately as well as working full-time for several years prior to filing the case. Subsequently, the court quashed the complaint against her in-laws after finding her allegations against the in-laws to be vague.
The apex court stressed, “As against the parents-in-law, the allegations are only of extending taunts and of not parting with the money for managing household expenses…A few taunts here and there is a part of everyday life which for happiness of the family are usually ignored.”
The Supreme Court also highlighted that the woman’s parents and uncle had advised her to exercise patience in the interest of the family. As a result, the apex court held that allowing prosecution against the in-laws would amount to an abuse of process.
However, the court rejected quashing proceedings against the husband, adding that there were specific allegations of cruelty that warranted trial.
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As per the court directions, the FIR and criminal proceedings against the parents-in-law have been quashed but the case against the husband will proceed in accordance with law.
