498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021 - Brother-in-law, his wife, and relatives living separately and no specific allegations against them. FIR Quashed.
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| 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021 |
498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021- This Article is based on the decision of the high court which says that only specific allegations against the accused attract prima facie case under section 498A, In this decision, the accused no. 2 & 3 (petitioner no. 1& 2) are in-laws and have specific allegations against them but the accused no. 4 to 6 (Petitioner no. 3 to 6) are brother-in-law, his wife and maternal uncle who was the mediator of the marriage are living separately and have no specific allegations against them, hence case is quashed against accused no. 4 to 6 but not against 2 & 3.
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Case Brief 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021-
The marriage of the complainant was performed on 05.12.2015. The Parents-in-law, brother-in-law and his wife is the mediator to the said marriage, and maternal uncle of her husband.
At the time of marriage, on the demand of her husband and his parents, the parents of the complainant gave cash of Rs.2.00 lakhs and presented 15 tolas of gold, 2 tolas of gold to her husband, household articles, and 1½ acre of agricultural land at Village, Suryapet District.
After marriage, the complainant joined the company of her husband at her marital home in Khammam, and stayed along with her husband for a couple of days, later they shifted to Hyderabad. After one week, her brother-in-law and his wife left for the UK. Both husband and wife started living in a rented house in Habsiguda.
Within a week, her husband started harassing the complainant, both physically and mentally on silly issues, such as making comments in the presence of her in-laws that she doesn't know how to cook properly, not allowing her to speak with her parents and that she should speak to her mother-in-law alone etc. Other details of which have been mentioned in the chargesheet.
Her in-laws also harassed the complainant saying that she did not know cooking. Further, whenever her in-laws visited their house, her husband used to tell lies against her, on which, her in-laws used to abuse her.
Later, the complainant came to know that the husband had already married one Deepika on 25.12.2013 in Delhi. Her husband went to Singapore on a Work Visa. Then the things became worse and during the said period, the complainant gave birth to a female child on 15.10.2016.
Case Brief 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021-
After returning on Work Visa, they took a rented house at Hastinapuram and used to stay there. When she was questioned about the first marriage, her husband used to quarrel with her. After some time, her husband has become jobless and addicted to bad vices.
As the complainant was unable to bear the harassment meted out by her husband, she left the house and started residing with her parents. The husband lodged a complaint against the complainant at Police Station for not leading marital life, on which, the police held counseling between the parties.
After some days, again her husband and her mother-in-law started harassing the complainant both physically and mentally. Brother-in-law and uncle knowing fully well about the first marriage of her husband concealed the same and cheated the complainant. Thus, all the in-laws are liable to be prosecuted for the aforesaid offenses.
Brother-in-law and his wife are innocent and in no way concerned with the alleged offenses and that they are falsely implicated in the above case as they happened to be brother-in-law and co-sister of the complainant.
Brother-in-law and his wife have settled in London, UK in the year 2011 and they hardly visited Hyderabad on two occasions, at the time of marriage of her husband and the complainant and at the time of delivery of brother’s sister. Thus, the question of harassing the complainant by brother-in-law and his wife does not arise. There are no specific allegations against the brother-in-law and wife and there is no evidence to prove the same.
Husband has already filed a petition against the complainant seeking divorce on the ground of as a counterblast, the complainant filed the present case with false allegations. In order to harass the entire family of her husband and the complainant has implicated all the family members in the present case.
Referred Cases 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021-
1. Kans Raj v. the State of Punjab.
2. Neeharika Infrastructure Private Limited v. the State of Maharashtra
3. Ranjana Gopalrao Thorat v. the State of Maharashtra
4. Smt. Sunita Goyal v. the State of Punjab
5. Sunita Jha v. the State of Jharkhand
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Arguments 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021
In-laws are innocent and are in no way concerned with the alleged offenses and that they are falsely implicated in the above case as they happened to be the in-laws of the complainant. Whereas, the husband is a mediator to the marriage and he is in no way concerned with the alleged harassment, etc. In fact, the entire charge sheet does not disclose the role of the uncle.
The complainant was residing with her husband, whereas her parents-in-law were residing at another place. With the aforesaid submissions, the in-laws sought to quash the proceedings against them in the aforesaid case.
On the other hand, the advocate of the complainant would contend that there are specific allegations mentioned by the complainant in her complaint, date wise and the harassment that was meted out by the in-laws towards her. The police after going through the complaint and after satisfying that there are grounds of harassment etc.
During the investigation, the police have recorded the statements of relevant witnesses and on the analysis of the same, came to a conclusion that prima facie, there is evidence with regard to the harassment meted out by the in-laws, filed chargesheet against them for the aforesaid offenses.
Arguments 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021
The advocate would further submit that the petitioners have to disprove the allegations during the trial and, therefore, at this stage, the proceedings cannot be quashed. With the said submissions, the advocate sought to dismiss both the criminal petitions.
The advocate would contend that the police, having recorded the relevant witnesses and having gone through the contents of the complaint, filed the charge sheet against the in-laws and her husband. There are specific allegations against each of the in-laws in the complaint lodged by the complainant with regard to harassment etc.
The contention that the in-laws are innocent and that they are in no way concerned with the alleged offenses and that they are falsely implicated in the above case are all to be tested during the trial, but not at this stage and therefore, the proceedings cannot be quashed at this stage.
Court Opinion 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021
The High Court, the contents of the chargesheet lacks the objects of offenses alleged against the brother-in-law and his wife. However the prima facie, there are specific allegations against mother-in-law and father-in-law about the harassment said to have meted out by them towards the complainant.
The functions of the judiciary and the police are harmonizing, not overlapping. In few cases where non-interference would result in a breakdown of justice, the High Court and the judicial process should not interfere at the stage of investigation of offenses.
Prayer for quashing the complaint is made by the in-laws in the high court when it practices the power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. They only have to consider whether or not the allegations in the complaint disclose the commission of a cognizable offense and are not required to consider on merits whether the averments make out a cognizable offense or not and the court has to permit the investigating police to investigate the allegations in the FIR.
Conclusion 498a quash after chargesheet 31.08.2021-
The High Court said that for prima facie, there are specific allegations against in-laws of the complainant and therefore, the proceedings against them cannot be quashed. However, there are no specific allegations against brother-in-law and uncle even as per the contents of the chargesheet and therefore, the proceedings against them are liable to be quashed. The proceedings in the file are hereby quashed against the in-laws.
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