498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023 – Calcutta High Court – No material for the proceedings against the Husband, Chargesheet Quashed.
498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023- In this article, the Calcutta High Court held that the materials and the chargesheet do not prima facie make out a case of cognizable offense against the husband, and there are no materials found for the proceedings against the husband. The wife is unwilling to return to the husband, and the wife has filed the present case only to harass the husband so that she cannot be forced to return. Therefore, the Criminal Proceedings against the husband are hereby quashed.
Case Brief- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
According to the facts of this case, the husband is a central government employee and the wife is a school teacher, and the marriage between the wife and the husband was solemnized on 12.06.2010 and after the marriage, the husband and wife started to live together with husband’s other family members.
It is stated that the wife was arrogant in nature and disliked living and residing in a joint family of the husband, and after the honeymoon, the husband took the wife to his quarter allotted by the government, and the wife and her husband started living there.
It is also stated that the wife became pregnant and on 14.10.2010 the wife left the quarter with all her belongings with her mother without informing the husband, and on 17.04.2011 the wife gave birth to a male child.
Case Brief- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
It is further stated that in spite of the husband’s best efforts, and even after filing a case for restitution of conjugal rights and after the efforts of reconciliation, the wife did not return to live with her husband.
It is also stated that in the year 2014, the wife filed a complaint dated 01.12.2014 at the police station against her husband, and a case was registered on 18.12.2014, and on 28.01.2015, the investigation ended, and a chargesheet was filed for the offense under Sections 498A/188 of IPC against the husband.
The present Revision Petition is filed by the husband for quashing of criminal proceedings arising out of the case dated 18.12.2014 along with the chargesheet dated 28.01.2015 under Sections 498A/ 188 of IPC.
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Arguments- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
The advocate appearing on behalf of the husband submitted that the chargesheet was filed without any cogent documents, the complaint filed by the wife has no force, and the continuance of the present case is nothing but an abuse of the process of law.
It is also submitted that the investigation officer willfully failed and neglected to consider the documents submitted by the husband, and filed the chargesheet arbitrarily, without investigating the case properly.
It is further submitted that the initiation and continuation of the proceeding against the husband have amounted to an abuse of the process of court and law, and the magistrate committed an error in law and procedure in taking cognizance against the husband on the basis of the chargesheet without considering the materials available in the case diary.
Arguments- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
It is also submitted that the Magistrate ought to appreciate that when the wife deliberately failed and neglected to comply with the order dated 27.02.2013 passed by the district judge and even after receiving the request letter dated 18.03.2013 written by the husband, the complaint was lodged in a preplanned manner to avoid residing with the husband.
Therefore, he prayed for the impugned order passed by the Magistrate taking cognizance of the chargesheet, and the proceedings against the husband are liable to be quashed.
On the other hand, the advocate appearing on behalf of the State submitted that the chargesheet was filed after proper investigation, and there are pieces of evidence of a prima facie case of a cognizable offense against the husband.
Therefore, it is prayed that the revision petition filed by the husband is liable to be dismissed.
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Referred Judgements- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
- Rajesh Sharma and Ors. Vs. State of U.P. & Anr.
- Arnesh Kumar Vs. State of Bihar and Anr.
- G.V. Rao Vs. L.H.V. Prasad & Ors.
- K. Subba Rao Vs. The State of Telangana
- M/s Neeharika Infrastructure Vs. State of Maharashtra
- Ranveer Upadhyay & Anr. Vs. State of U.P. & Anr.
- Umesh Kumar Vs. State of Andhra Pradesh and Anr.
- Rajiv Thapar Vs. Madan Lal Kapoor
- State of Bihar Vs. P.P. Sharma
- Sheonandan Paswan Vs. State of Bihar
- Parkash Singh Badal Vs. State of Punjab
- State of A.P. Vs. Golconda Linga Swamy
- K. Karunakaran Vs. State of Kerala
- State of Maharashtra Vs. Salman Salim Khan
Court’s Opinion- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
The court stated that in cases of such nature, the High court can quash the proceedings if the ingredients of the alleged offense are not proved, and also if the court is convinced that the accused person is innocent, and wrongly implicated.
The court stated in one of the above-mentioned cases that the aim of incorporating section 498A was to prevent cruelty committed upon a woman by the husband and the In-laws, by facilitating rapid state intervention, but it is also true that nowadays matrimonial litigation has increased in the country, and now there is greater friction and disaffection surrounding the marriage more than ever, and it has resulted in use such provisions as instruments to settle personal scores against the In-laws and husband.
It is also stated by the court that the courts should be extremely cautious and careful in dealing with such complaints, and must take sensible realities into consideration while dealing with matrimonial disputes and cases, and the allegations of the complaint shall be scrutinized with great circumspection and care.
Court’s Opinion- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
The courts should also be careful in the proceedings against the distant relatives of the husband in crimes pertaining to dowry death and matrimonial disputes, and the relatives should not be roped in just on the basis of omnibus allegations unless there are some specific instances of the relative’s involvement in the crime.
In the present case, the court stated that the marriage between the husband and wife took place on 12.06. 2010, and the wife left the husband’s house on 14.10.2010 after the wife got pregnant, and the wife filed the present case on 18.12.2014 which is four years after she left, and she has alleged offense under Section 498A/ 188 of IPC.
The court also stated that the district judge directed the husband to take his wife and children to his house and lead a happy conjugal life in the case for restitution of conjugal rights filed by the husband, and it was the wife who did not comply with the said order as the husband sent a letter dated 18.03.201 by post to the wife requesting her to come back, but the wife did not come back with the child.
Court’s Opinion- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
The court further stated that these facts further strengthen the case of the husband, and it shows that the wife is unwilling to return to the husband, and the wife has filed the present case only to harass the husband so that she cannot be forced to return.
The court also stated that the materials in the case diary and the chargesheet do not prima facie make out a case of cognizable offense against the husband, and there are no materials found for the proceedings against the husband, and it is a fit case for the court to exercise its inherent power.
In view of the above discussion, the court held that in this case there is no substance in the allegations against the husband, and there is no material to make out the complexity of the husband in a cognizable offense, and the proceedings in this case, shall be quashed.
Therefore, the criminal revision petition is allowed, and the proceedings arising out of the case dated 18.12.2014 and the chargesheet dated 28.01.2015 against the husband are hereby quashed.
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Conclusion- 498A Quash Judgement 10.01.2023
In this article, the Calcutta High Court held that the wife is unwilling to return to the husband, and the wife has filed the present case only to harass the husband so that she cannot be forced to return.
It is also held that the materials in the case diary and the chargesheet do not prima facie make out a case of cognizable offense against the husband, and there are no materials found for the proceedings against the husband.
Therefore, the proceedings and the chargesheet against the husband are hereby quashed.
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