The Gujarat High Court has recently dismissed FIR filed against an 86-year-old woman under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.
Justice Sandeep N Bhatt recognized that the FIR would cause significant hardship to the elderly woman and deemed it unnecessary to proceed with further legal action.
The court acknowledged the widespread misuse of this provision to harass family members.
The court emphasized that criminal prosecution should not be exploited as a means of harassment or personal vendetta, nor used to pressurize the accused or settle the scores.
The Court remarked that “At this stage, a mention is required to be made that the current scenario in the society is that Sections of 498A are being rampantly misused by the complainants and in such cases, all the family members are roped in the complaint only with a view to harass the family members and the Hon’ble Apex Court has taken cognizance of such incidents in the number of judgments.”
The FIR was initially registered in 2016 against the elderly woman and her son based on a complaint by the latter’s wife, alleging dowry demands and harassment. The situation worsened due to allegations of the son’s extramarital relationship, leading the complainant to separate from her in-laws.
Furthermore, the complainant-wife stated that her husband physically assaulted her when she confronted him about the alleged affair. Subsequently, she filed an FIR against her husband, her in-laws, and the woman involved in the illicit relationship.
In 2017, the applicants approached the court seeking the quashing of the FIR. During the proceedings, the counsel for the elderly woman argued that there were no substantial allegations directly implicating her client and that most of the allegations that were directed toward other individuals.
Additionally, it was emphasized that considering the applicant’s age at the time of filing the application, she would face unwarranted harassment if the criminal proceedings were there to continue.
The Bench observed that the applicant, being the mother-in-law of the complainant, was wrongly implicated, and only general allegations were made against her.
The Court held that, “Even looking at the age factor and the fact that general allegations are leveled in the FIR only to make sure that she is roped in the FIR, continuing these proceedings will amount to abuse of process of law and no fruitful purpose will be served in continuing the same.”
