The Bombay High Court has quashed an FIR under Section 498A IPC against a Wardha-based software engineer and his family, holding that the prosecution reflected a troubling pattern of matrimonial complaints being used as pressure tactics. Justice Pravin Patil ruled that continuation of the criminal case would amount to abuse of process, stressing that courts cannot ignore misuse of penal provisions in domestic disputes.
The FIR, registered in July 2024, accused the husband and his relatives of mental and physical cruelty, financial harassment, coercion to terminate pregnancy, and installing a hidden camera. The couple, married in 2020, had a history of disputes. Earlier in February 2024, the husband had lodged a non-cognisable complaint citing assault, supported by medical records.
He filed for divorce in April 2024, expressing apprehension of false charges. In May 2024, both families executed a mutual settlement contemplating divorce with a financial arrangement of Rs.35 lakh. Days later, the wife underwent medical termination of pregnancy with written consent from both parties. The High Court examined WhatsApp exchanges, medical documents and the settlement deed, noting that the timeline was largely undisputed.
The Court found the allegations to be “general and omnibus in nature” without specific instances or dates necessary to sustain charges under Section 498-A. It observed that in several matrimonial prosecutions, complainants implicate not only the spouse but also elderly parents and distant relatives without credible material. Such “indiscriminate invocation of the criminal process,” the Court said, diminishes the purpose and moral force of the provision.
Concluding that the petitioners had placed “sound, reasonable and indubitable material” on record, the Bench held that allowing the case to proceed would constitute “abuse of process of court,” and accordingly quashed the FIR.
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