498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022- Calcutta High Court - No Prima Facie case against Parents-in-law & Uncle and Aunt-in-law. F.I.R Quashed.
498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022- In this article, Calcutta High Court held that there is no evidence in the case diary in support of allegation under Section 498A/506 of IPC against parents-in-law, Uncle-in-law, and aunt-in-law. There is no prima facie case against parents-in-law & uncle and aunt-in-law. Therefore, criminal proceedings against In-laws are here quashed.
Case Brief- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
According to the facts mentioned in the complaint filed by the wife, the marriage between wife and husband was solemnized on 20.02.2021 according to Hindu Rites and Ceremonies.
It is stated in the complaint that immediately after her marriage, her husband and her parents-in-law held a meeting with her on 03.03.2021, wherein she was informed that at the time of marriage, her husband did not take any dowry from her parents and therefore now she would have to bring a huge sum of money from her parents for setting up a medicine shop.
It is also stated that when the wife failed to bring a huge amount of money from her paternal home, her husband, father-in-law, and mother-in-law started to treat her with cruelty both physically and mentally. Furthermore, her uncle-in-law and aunt-in-law instigated her husband and her parents-in-law in perpetrating torture upon her.
It is further stated that on 27.04.2021 the wife was compelled to leave her matrimonial home to save her life, and she has been residing at her paternal home since then.
Case Brief- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
On 05.05.2021 her father-in-law sent a letter to her by e-mail, directing her to return to her matrimonial home immediately, and it was also stated in the letter that if she failed to do so, he would circulate the said letter in public in the locality. The said letter is an example of mental cruelty upon the wife.
Upon this, the wife lodged a written complaint for the offense punishable under section 498A/ 406/506/34 of IPC and sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act against her husband, parents-in-law, uncle and aunt-in-law at the police station, Durgapur.
The investigation was done by the police and after completion of the investigation, police submitted Chargesheet.
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Arguments- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
Advocate appearing on behalf of petitioners submitted that within two months of marriage, the wife left her matrimonial home.
It was stated that the wife failed to state any incident of torture in her written complaint and a false story dated 03.03.2021 was manufactured to implicate her parents-in-law.
He further stated that the wife could not produce even a single piece of medical paper to prove that she was physically tortured by her husband and parents-in-law at her matrimonial home.
Arguments- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
He also stated that the wife’s uncle and aunt-in-law were falsely implicated on the basis of an omnibus allegation that they aided and abated the commission of the offense of cruelty upon her within the meaning of Section 498A of IPC.
It was further argued that on 26.04.2021 and 27.04.2021 in absence of any other family member in the matrimonial home, the wife shifted all her belongings including gold ornaments, etc. to her paternal home and left her matrimonial home without any reason.
It was stated that the truthfulness of said fact can be prima facie ascertained from the case diary when the wife refused to render cooperation to the Investigation Officer for recovery of her stridhan property from her matrimonial home.
Arguments- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
He further submitted that the father-in-law of the wife wrote a letter by e-mail to her asking her to return to her matrimonial home, and said the e-mail was cited as evidence of mental torture allegedly perpetrated by farther-in-law upon her.
Therefore, he prayed for the quashing of the F.I.R filed by the wife and criminal proceedings against the petitioners.
On the other hand, the public prosecutor appearing on behalf of the state e has placed the case diary for consideration. He prayed that there is no question of quashing the F.I.R and criminal proceedings against the petitioner.
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Court’s Opinion- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
The court stated that the inherent jurisdiction of this court can only be exercised ex debito justitiae and considered this case by bearing certain guidelines with regard to the scope of Section 482 of IPC.
In this case from the contents of Chargesheet, it appears that except the wife and her mother, the wife’s elder sister and her neighbor of her paternal home were examined by the investigating officer, and their statement was recorded under Section 161 of Cr. P. C.
It was revealed that wife’s elder sister resides at Mukundapur, and she does not have any direct knowledge about the incident as alleged by the wife, and it was observed that investigating Officer failed to collect any evidence from the vicinity of the matrimonial home of the wife.
Court’s Opinion- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
It was stated that on careful perusal of the case diary, the court found no evidence in support of the allegation under section 498A/ 506 Of IPC against parents-in-law & Uncle, and aunt-in-law.
It was also stated that the father-in-law of wife cannot be implicated in a criminal case only because he sent an e-mail to his wife asking her to return to her matrimonial home and neither the hard nor the soft copy of the said the e-mail was seized by Investigating Officer.
In view of the above discussion, it was held that there is no prima facie case against the parents-in-law & uncle, and aunt-in-law, therefore F.I.R and Chargesheet dated 24.06.2021 under sections 498A/406/506/34 of IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act is quashed.
However, the husband is liable to be prosecuted on basis of chargesheet under Sections 498A/406/506/34 of IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act filed against him.
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Conclusion- 498A Quash after Chargesheet 22.09.2022
In this article, Calcutta High Court held that there is no evidence in support of an allegation under Section 498A/506 of IPC against the parents-in-law & uncle, and aunt-in-law of the wife.
On careful consideration of the material record as well as the case diary, there is no prima facie case against the parents-in-law & uncle, and aunt-in-law.
Therefore, F.I.R against the petitioner is hereby quashed.
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