Cruelty allegations against hubby can’t be vague: Cal HC
Times of India | 8 April 2025
Kolkata: An allegation under Section 498A of the erstwhile IPC could not be "omnibus and vague"; it needed to be backed by evidence, Calcutta High Court said in a recent judgment, quashing criminal proceedings against a man and his mother, which his wife had lodged in 2022.
IPC 498A, now replaced by BNS sections 85 and 86, deals with cruelty against a woman by her husband and in-laws.
On March 28, Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta said allegations of physical torture made by the woman against her husband and mother-in-law were not backed by specifics of time and place.
The court noted that the woman had filed a complaint in 2022 after her husband filed a case of cheating against her for not revealing her first marriage and the child born from that. The couple had married in 2015. The woman became pregnant in 2016 and left her matrimonial home on Feb 2, 2017, alleging torture by her husband and mother-in-law during pregnancy. She returned in 2022 "for her child's sake" but said the torture had continued, filing a police case on July 13, 2022.
The woman alleged that on July 4, 2022, her husband came to her parents' home and threatened her with further torture. She also said that he had tried to forcibly take the child away on July 11, 2022, around 8.50pm. She said her mother-in-law had prevented her from stepping inside her husband's home if she continued to stay with her parents.
The investigating officer issued notices under Section 41(A) CrPC, following which both the husband and mother-in-law surrendered before the chief judicial magistrate on July 24, 2023.
The husband told the court that he had, in 2021, not only filed for the child's custody, but also for the marriage to be nullified. He also claimed that his wife's complaints were "false and fabricated". Both he and his mother pled innocent. They claimed that the woman left the matrimonial home voluntarily on Feb 7, 2017. The man also pointed out that his wife was hiding facts. He mentioned that he had filed a case of cheating against her on July 19, 2017. A probe found out that she was indeed previously married and had a daughter, who is now aged about 11.
The court found the wife's allegations very general, as there was no specific date, time and place specified on when physical torture was perpetrated on her.
The court also noted that after the husband filed multiple cases, the wife in 2022 filed a complaint despite her not living with the accused. "She alleged the incidents of torture in 2016, 2017 and 2022, but failed to specify the details of the torture inflicted by the petitioners. No specific role was attributed against the petitioners. Mere allegations of physical torture are insufficient to initiate proceedings against the present petitioners," the court held.