A Live-In Partner Of Woman Cannot Be Covered By Term ‘Husband’ For Attracting Offence Of Cruelty U/s. 498A Of IPC: Kerala HC
The Kerala High Court held that a live-in partner of a woman cannot be covered by the term ‘husband’ for the purpose of attracting offence of cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Court held thus in a criminal miscellaneous case filed under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), seeking to quash the proceedings against the accused.
A Single Bench of Justice A. Badharudeen observed, “The term ‘husband @ hubby’ means, a married man, woman’s partner in marriage. Thus, marriage is the constituent which takes the women’s partner to the status of her husband. Marriage means a marriage in the eye of law. Thus, without a legal marriage, if a man becomes a woman’s partner, he will not be covered by the term ‘husband’ for the purpose of Section 498(A) of IPC.”
The Bench said that in order to attract an offence punishable under Section 498A of IPC, the most essential ingredient is, subjecting a woman to cruelty by her ‘husband’ or ‘relative/relatives’ of the husband.
Advocate T. Madhu appeared on behalf of the petitioner while Public Prosecutor Sanal P. Raj appeared on behalf of the respondents.
In this case, the prosecution alleged that the complainant was maintaining a live-in relationship with the petitioner (accused) and during that period, the accused mentally and physically harassed her at his house. On this premise, the prosecution alleged commission of offence punishable under Section 498A IPC. The counsel for the petitioner argued that the relationship between the accused and the complainant was that of a live-in, and hence, there is no legal marriage between them. It was, therefore, submitted that the offence of cruelty under the said provision would not attract.
The High Court in view of the facts and circumstances of the case noted, “… the petitioner herein, who was not the legally wedded partner of the defacto complainant, would not come within the purview of definition of husband, dealt in Section 498(A) of IPC. Therefore, the cognizance taken by the Magistrate acting on the Final Report filed in Crime No. 939/2023 of Quilandy Police Station, alleging commission of offence punishable under Section 498A of IPC by the petitioner herein is illegal and the same is liable to be quashed.”
Accordingly, the Court allowed the petition and quashed the proceedings against the accused.
Cause Title- Dr. Aswin V Nair v. State of Kerala & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024/KER/51429)
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates T. Madhu, C.R. Saradamani, Renjish S. Menon, Vrinda T.S., and Aiswarya Jayapal.
Respondents: PP Sanal P. Raj
