LI Network
Published on: November 24, 2023 at 00:40 IST
The Telangana High Court has quashed criminal proceedings against the family members of a husband, asserting that the accusations brought forth by the wife appear to have been fabricated with the intention of implicating them.
The case originated from a complaint filed by the wife, alleging dowry harassment against her husband and his family members. Subsequently, the police conducted an investigation and excluded the names of the family members from the complaint.
Undeterred, the complainant filed a Protest Petition, leading to the Trial Court taking cognizance against the family members. Challenging this order, the family members approached the High Court.
The High Court, in its decision, emphasized that cruelty, as stipulated under Section 498-A of the IPC, involves actions that either cause or have the potential to cause serious harm or endanger the woman’s life, limb, or health. It also includes harassment with the intent to coerce her or her family into meeting unlawful property demands.
The Court pointed out that merely accompanying the husband on two occasions to the wife’s house did not meet the criteria for ‘cruelty’ as defined in Section 498-A of the IPC.
It underscored that the definition of cruelty in this context requires actions that result in grave injury or danger to the woman’s life, limb, or health, or harassment intended to compel her or her family to fulfill unlawful property demands.
The Bench, led by Justice K. Surender, observed, ‘Even accepting that the petitioners 2 to 5 had accompanied A1 on two occasions when they have gone to the house of the 2nd respondent, it does not fulfill the ingredients of ‘cruelty’ as explained under Section 498-A of IPC.’
In conclusion, the Court allowed the petition, setting aside the previous order, and stated that the allegations made by the wife were seemingly concocted to implicate the family members.
The case was titled ‘P. Subba Reddy and Others v The State of Telangana.’