Wife named relatives in cruelty case; court says vague allegations cannot drag relatives into matrimonial disputes

NEW DELHI: The Madras high court has ruled that criminal prosecution under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code cannot be allowed just because a marriage has turned bitter or because relatives are connected to the dispute.The court warned that family members should not be dragged into criminal cases without specific allegations against them.Background of the caseThe case came before the Madras high court after an estranged husband, S. Sathish Kumar, a police constable, and seven of his relatives approached the court seeking to quash a criminal case filed against them by his wife, Sivasankari.A complaint was registered at the All Women Police Station in Theni district, and a charge sheet was filed before the Judicial Magistrate Court.The couple had married in June 2015 and have a son. The wife alleged that her husband assaulted her on multiple occasions and seized her phone.She further alleged that the husband had an extramarital affair and that his relatives supported him in ill-treating her.The husband and his relatives claimed that the complaint was filed out of revenge, as a response to an earlier complaint made by another accused in the case.

They also pointed out that the wife had never lived with the husband's family and that the couple had always stayed separately, first in Tiruppur and later in police quarters at Bodinayakanur.The relatives argued that there were no specific allegations against any of them — no dates, no incidents, no details of how each of them had allegedly caused harm to the wife.What the court saidJustice L. Victoria Gowri treated the husband and his relatives as two separate matters.

Since the allegations against the husband were specific, with dates and details of assault and cruelty, the court said those needed to go to trial and refused to drop the case against him.But when it came to the relatives, the court was firm and it stated that vague statements like "supported him" or "in-laws caused mental cruelty" are not enough to charge someone under Section 498A. It made clear that "criminal prosecution cannot be allowed to proceed on the basis of relationship alone."The court partly allowed the petition. The case against the husband's relatives was dropped. The husband, however, will have to face trial, with the court noting that the allegations against him have "sufficient factual foundation to proceed to trial.""The criminal process must remain a shield for the genuinely aggrieved and not become a sword for collateral vengeance." It added that "justice, therefore, lies in separating the grain from the chaff," the court added.