The Supreme Court has dismissed a dowry harassment case filed by a woman against her former husband’s relatives, ruling that the allegations were baseless and proceeding with the case would result in an unnecessary and vexatious trial.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra noted that the marriage had already ended in May 2012 through an ex-parte divorce decree, while the complaint was filed 3 years later.
“We have no hesitation in holding that the present appellants have unnecessarily been roped in… without any specific allegation,” the court stated in its April 16 judgment, adding that no incidents were cited that occurred during the marriage or while the couple lived together in Kota.
No Grounds For Trial Against In-Laws
The top court criticized the trend of indiscriminately naming relatives in dowry complaints, emphasizing previous rulings that discourage such misuse of legal provisions under Section 498A IPC and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
The case originated from an appeal against an Allahabad High Court order, which had dismissed the accused family members’ plea seeking to quash a trial court summons issued on a complaint filed by the woman.
The woman had alleged that in August 2015, her former in-laws visited her parental home, threatened her, and demanded dowry. However, the Supreme Court found no reasonable motive for the accused to visit her after the divorce had already been granted in 2012.
“Even if the incident of August 16, 2015 occurred, the marital relationship had already ended. The appellants, being relatives, cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A,” the court said.
Case Background
- The couple married in June 2010 and lived in Kota briefly.
- The woman returned to her parents’ home by October 2010.
- After failed reconciliation efforts, the husband filed for divorce. Due to the woman’s absence in court, a decree was granted ex parte in May 2012.
- In 2015, the woman filed a complaint, accusing 5 relatives of harassment over dowry.
- A magistrate treated her application as a criminal complaint and issued summons, which the Supreme Court has now quashed.
Court’s verdict reinforces that while legal protections against domestic abuse are crucial, they should not be misused to target extended family members without credible evidence.
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