Husband’s Friend Not A Relative & Cannot Be Prosecuted U/S 498A IPC: Allahabad High Court
The Allahabad High Court ruled that a husband’s friend cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which pertains to the crime of subjecting a woman to cruelty by her husband or his relatives.
The case in question involved a petition by a woman seeking to quash proceedings against her under Section 498A IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act. She had been accused by the wife of her friend of disrupting their marriage and encouraging the friend to file for divorce. The petitioner argued that she was merely a college friend of the husband and not a relative.
A Bench of Justice Anish Kumar Gupta clarified that a friend of a husband does not fall within the category of a "relative of the husband" as defined by Section 498A IPC.
The Court said, “From the plain reading of Section 498-A I.P.C., the offence can be made out under Section 498-A I.P.C. only against the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, who allegedly subjects such woman to cruelty.”
The Court observed that there were no allegations against the petitioner involving harassment for dowry, nor any claims of willful actions by her that could lead to the complainant’s harm or distress. The Court remarked that from the facts of the case, no offence under Section 498A IPC is made out against the petitioner.
Similarly, the Court found that the Dowry Prohibition Act did not apply, as there were no allegations of dowry demands or benefits related to dowry on the petitioner’s part. The Court also noted that there were no claims that the petitioner had directly interfered in the matrimonial issues of the complainant and her husband, apart from their conversations.
The Court said that the prosecution against the petitioner appeared to be driven by the complainant's suspicion of an inappropriate relationship between the petitioner and her husband. Consequently, the Court quashed both the ongoing proceedings in the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court in Allahabad and the charge sheet filed by the police.
Cause Title: X v. State of U.P. & Ors., [2024:AHC:146474]
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates Pradeep Kumar Singh, Santosh Kumar Upadhyaya, and Rishab Kumar Pandey
Respondents: Advocates Ramesh Chand Yadav, Kamlesh Kumar Tripathi
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