498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022- Bombay High Court-Omnibus and general allegations against Sister-in-law. FIR Quashed.
498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022- In this article, the Bombay High Court held that allegations against sister-in-law are not specific in nature and the allegations made against In-laws are omnibus and general in nature. The wife has filed that complaint with an ulterior motive, and continuation of prosecution against In-laws would amount to an abuse of the process of law. Therefore, criminal proceedings against In-laws are hereby quashed.
Case brief- 498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022
According to the facts mentioned in the complaint filed by the wife, the marriage between wife and husband was solemnized on 28.11.2010 and the couple was blessed with two children during their marriage and her husband serves in a bank.
It is stated in FIR that at the time of marriage, her parents presented dowry in form of gold and cash, and other household articles to her husband.
After marriage, she and her husband went to Hyderabad for cohabitation and lived happily for a period of six months.
It was further submitted that when she brought to the notice of her husband and her parents-in-law and sister-in-law about a love affair between her sister-in-law and one another person since then her husband and that one another person has been harassing her and ill-treating her on vexatious grounds.
She further stated that her In-laws tortured her mentally as well as physically as they used to raise suspicion about her character, poison the ears of her husband to beat her, and harass her stating that her father had not given them proper respect in the marriage ceremony, and they used to keep her without food.
She was also forced to get her share from the ancestral property of her father, and she was driven out of the house from time to time.
Likewise, she further alleged that her In-laws got some blank papers signed by her and made a video of it, and later dropped her along with her younger son at the railway station to go to Aurangabad and kept her elder son in their custody.
They also threatened her that if she wanted to cohabit with her husband, she had to get her share from the ancestral property of her father, or otherwise, she would be divorced.
Later, the wife approached her uncle’s home in Aurangabad and made a complaint to the Women’s Grievance Redressal Forum, Aurangabad.
But even after sending a notice to her In-laws, they remained absent, so the said forum issued a letter to her asking her to lodge a complaint against her In-laws, her husband as well as that one another person.
She accordingly filed the FIR dated 05.11.2019 for the offenses punishable under Sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 r/w 34 of IPC at Jawahar Nagar Police station, Aurangabad.
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Arguments- 498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022
The advocate appearing for the wife’s parents-in-law and sister-in-law submitted that they are innocent and haven’t committed any offense as alleged in the FIR. They have a good reputation in society and have no criminal record.
They have been falsely implicated in the crime and allegations made against them are false, illogical, vague, and general in nature.
He further submitted that his wife has been residing at her parental home in Sillod for the last year and the complaint was lodged at Aurangabad. Furthermore, her sister-in-law resides in a different place than the one where the offense in question has taken place.
The distance between the matrimonial home of her and her sister-in-law is approximately 507kms, and her sister-in-law at no point of time shared the shelter with her.
He stated that allegations made by the wife even if taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, they do not prima facie constitute any offense or make out a case against her In-laws.
Therefore, he prayed for the quashing of the FIR and subsequent proceedings against the petitioners.
After hearing the advocate for the petitioner for quite some time, when this court showed disinclination to grant relief in favor of the father-in-law and mother-in-law of the wife in the criminal application, the advocate for the petitioner on instructions leave to withdraw the said application to their extent. Leave granted. The application stands disposed of, and therefore now the application is considered only to the extent of the sister-in-law.
Advocate for the petitioner further stated that her sister-in-law got married in the year 2007 and since then she has been residing in Nagpur and to support this contention, the copy of her Aadhaar card is annexed with this application.
He stated that allegations against his sister-in-law are vague, and no specific overt act is attributed against her. Hence, no case is made out by the wife in her complaint against her sister-in-law and therefore, the criminal application be allowed to the extent of the sister-in-law.
On the other hand, the APP representing the state and advocate representing the wife submitted that there are specific allegations against all the petitioners and hence there is no question of quashing the FIR against the petitioners.
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Referred Judgements- 498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022
- State of Haryana and other Vs. Ch. Bhajan Lal and Others
- Shaikh Mushrraf Pasha and Others Vs. The state of Maharashtra and another
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Court's Opinion- 498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022
For quashing the criminal proceedings under Section 482 of Cr. P.C courts have to see, whether the allegations in the complaint and F.I.R prima facie establish the ingredients of the offense alleged. In this case, the contents of F.I.R revealed that no specific allegations are attributed against the sister-in-law of the respondent, and allegations made against her are omnibus and general in nature.
Further, the sister-in-law of the respondent is admittedly residing in Nagpur, and the respondent and her husband were at the relevant time staying at Hyderabad and the distance between Hyderabad and Nagpur is 507kms.
Prima facie, it appears that the wife has implicated her sister-in-law in the offense in question only with a view to harass her.
It was stated that the wife only with the intention to harass her sister-in-law, has filed the complaint with an ulterior motive, and continuation of prosecution against her sister-in-law, who stays separately in her own house at a far place, would amount to an abuse of process of law.
As far as the sister-in-law of the respondent is concerned, there are no specific allegations against her, and F.I.R has been filed against her, only with a view to harassing her.
In view of the above discussion, FIR dated 05.11.2019 registered with Police Station, Aurangabad for the offenses punishable under sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 r/w 34 IPC and charge-sheet and R.C.C as against sister-in-law of the respondent are hereby quashed.
As far as the sister-in-law of the respondent is concerned, the criminal application stands.
Conclusion- 498A Quash after charge sheet 19.09.2022
In this article, the Bombay High Court held that no specific allegation is attributed against the sister-in-law of the respondent, and allegations made against her are omnibus and general in nature, and she has been implicated in the offense in question only with a view to harass her.
The allegations made against petitioners are made just to harass them and make them suffer through criminal proceedings, therefore F.I.R against the petitioner is quashed as a result.
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