The Karnataka High Court recently quashed the conviction of a 46-year-old man charged under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Court cited the reason for the acquittal as the fact that the complaint against the man was filed by his 'second wife', making their marriage 'null and void' and thus rendering the case under Section 498A untenable.
Section 498A of the IPC is designed to protect married women from abuse by their husbands or their spouse's family members. However, in this particular case, since the marriage was deemed illegal, the High Court set aside the conviction order passed by the lower courts.
The verdict was delivered by a single-judge bench comprising Justice S Rachaiah. The judge asserted that the lower courts should not have entertained the charges, considering the complainant woman's status as the man's second wife. Thus, the alleged offence under Section 498A was not maintainable in this situation.
The Court stated, "In other words, a complaint filed by the second wife against the husband and her in-laws is not maintainable. The Courts below committed errors in applying the principles and also the law on this aspect. Therefore, interference by this Court in exercising the revisional jurisdiction is justified."
The case revolves around Kantharaju, a resident of Vittavathanahalli in the Tumakuru district, and his second wife. According to the complainant, she lived with Kantharaju for five years, and they had a child together. However, her health deteriorated, leaving her paralyzed and incapacitated. She claimed that Kantharaju's behaviour towards her changed drastically during this period, and he subjected her to cruelty and mental torture. To escape this situation, she lodged a complaint against him.
Subsequently, the Tumakuru Trial Court found Kantharaju guilty under Section 498A of the IPC, and the verdict was pronounced on January 18, 2019. This decision was later confirmed by the Sessions Court in October 2019. However, Kantharaju challenged the conviction and filed a Revision Petition before the Karnataka High Court.
After a thorough examination, the High Court concluded that a second wife does not have the entitlement to file a complaint under Section 498A. Consequently, the High Court set aside the earlier verdicts of the lower courts passed during January and October 2019.
The High Court emphasized that the lower court should have considered the complainant as the second wife, based on the available evidence, unless the prosecution had proven that their marriage was legal. The Court stated, "The prosecution has to establish that the marriage of PW.1 is legal or she is the legally wedded wife of the petitioner. Unless it is established that she is the legally wedded wife of the petitioner, the Courts below ought to have acted upon the evidence of PWs.1 (complainant woman) and 2 (her mother) that PW.1 was the second wife."
In arriving at this decision, the High Court referred to two Supreme Court judgments: the Shivcharan Lal Verma case and the P Sivakumar case. These rulings made it clear that if the marriage between the husband and wife was null and void, the offence under Section 498A of IPC could not be sustained.
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