Kerala High Court: Girlfriend of husband cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A IPC

In a significant ruling, the Kerala High Court has clarified that a husband's girlfriend or a woman involved in a sexual relationship with him outside of marriage cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which addresses cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband or his relatives.

Justice K Babu delivered the judgment, emphasizing that the legislative language of Section 498A excludes women who engage in consensual relationships with married men from the definition of 'relative'.

The Court's order highlighted that the term 'relative' in this context pertains to a status conferred by blood, marriage, or adoption. Therefore, women with whom married men have extramarital relationships do not fall within the scope of this legal definition.

The judgment was issued in response to a petition filed by a woman who faced charges under Section 498A, coupled with Section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. She sought the quashing of proceedings against her in a magistrate court.

The charges against the petitioner arose from a complaint filed by the wife of her live-in partner. The husband and wife had a strained marriage, and the complaint accused the husband, his mother, his brother, and the petitioner of subjecting her to cruelty.

In her defense, the petitioner argued that her relationship with her partner did not categorize her as a 'relative' under Section 498A.

Agreeing with her argument, the Court proceeded to quash the proceedings against her, stating that her association with her partner did not constitute grounds for prosecution under Section 498A. The order emphasized that the petitioner's status as a non-relative, combined with the consensual nature of the relationship, exempted her from the application of the penal provision.

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