The Calcutta High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against an 86-year-old man in a domestic cruelty case filed by his wife, following the complainant’s death.

The dispute, which arose in June 2023 under the jurisdiction of Kalyani police station, centred on the couple’s disagreement over keeping around 40 pet cats at home. The wife, then 84, had alleged that her husband abused and threatened her and her younger son, demanding that they leave the house along with the cats, whom she considered her “children”.

Based on the complaint, a chargesheet was filed under Section 498A of the IPC, dealing with cruelty by a husband or his relatives. The wife had also alleged continuous physical and mental harassment of herself and her sons.

The matter moved from the police station to the trial court and eventually reached the Calcutta High Court after the husband sought the quashing of the proceedings.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that the dispute was primarily between the father and son, and that the allegations of cruelty were false and fabricated. It was submitted that the wife had “never lodged any prior complaint” against her husband during their long married life, and that the case stemmed solely from disagreements over the cats, which the wife and sons were fond of, while the husband was not.

The petitioner’s counsel further contended that the elderly couple had fallen victim to wrong advice given by their son, leading to a false cruelty case.

The state prosecutor, on the other hand, submitted that the investigation had not found any material to attract Section 498A, especially considering that both parties were octogenarians and that the complainant had since passed away. “On careful perusal of the materials on record, there are no ingredients to attract Section 498A, more so when the de facto complainant has expired,” the prosecutor said.

After examining the submissions and the record, Justice Chaitali Chattopadhyay Das observed that while there was a dispute over keeping cats at home, the core conflict appeared to be between the father and the son, and a separate case related to that dispute was pending. The court noted that witness statements indicated the elderly woman had never previously accused her husband of cruelty.

Quashing the proceedings, the court held that forcing the 86-year-old man to face trial after the complainant’s death would serve no purpose. “In view of the above facts and circumstances, this Court finds no reason to allow the trial to proceed any further against the present petitioner, who is an octogenarian person, when the de facto complainant is no more,” the order stated.

However, the court added a caveat: “Though the proceeding is quashed against the petitioner, he should by no means indulge himself in any act of cruelty towards the cats, if any are still living in his house.”

Accordingly, the criminal revisional application was allowed and the proceedings pending before the lower court were quashed.