Supreme Court quashes FIR filed by a wife who alleged that her husband lied to her about his profession

Supreme Court: While considering the instant appeal challenging the non-quashment of FIR filed by an estranged wife on the ground that she was lied about her husband’s profession; the Division Bench of Sudhanshu Dhulia and K. Vinod Chandran, JJ., opined that the FIR against the husband and his family was filed for totally extraneous reasons which should have been quashed by the Gujarat High Court.

Respondent 2 (wife) married Appellant 1 (husband) on 10-04-2023 and they stayed together as husband and wife for four months. The husband had a skin disease called leukoderma. The wife lodged an FIR against the Appellants stating that she was lied about her estranged husband’s profession. It was stated that she married Appellant 1 because he was an Eye Surgeon, but he turned out to be an ‘Optometrist’ (a healthcare provider who specializes in caring for eyes, examining, diagnosing and treating diseases and disorders that affect vision) and that this fact was not known to her till 21-05-2023, the date of their wedding reception.

Perusing the facts of the case, the Court pointed out that it was clear that the wife had full knowledge that the husband was suffering from skin disease, and he was not an Eye Surgeon, but an Optometrist. The Court further pointed out that from the WhatsApp chats which were presented before the Court, it was clear that there was no effort on the part of the husband to disguise or befool the wife regarding his skin disease or regarding his qualification.

The Court thus held that the instant case was a befitting case where the High Court should have exercised its powers under Section 482 of the CrPC and should have quashed the proceedings as this was an abuse of process of law.

Hence the Supreme Court deemed it fit to quash the criminal proceedings against the Appellant(s) and set aside the impugned order passed by the High Court.