{"id":237828,"date":"2020-10-22T10:58:59","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T05:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?p=237828"},"modified":"2020-10-30T11:07:41","modified_gmt":"2020-10-30T05:37:41","slug":"bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/","title":{"rendered":"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Bombay High Court: <\/strong>A Division Bench of Z.A. Haq and Amit B. Borkar, JJ., while allowing the present criminal application filed under Section 482 of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 observed the tendency in the society wherein the relatives of husband are also roped in with vague allegations under Section 498-A of Penal Code, 1860.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the instant matter, both husband and wife started living separately from sister-in-law and brother-in-law of the husband after their marriage.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Due to quarrels between the non-applicant 2 and her husband, non-applicant 2 filed an FIR with Police Station, which was compromised. On a later date, non-applicant 2 again lodged a complaint with the Women Cell.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Further, the husband of non-applicant 2 filed a complained alleging harassment caused by parents and brother of non-applicant 2.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Non-applicant 2 approached the Judicial Magistrate and filed an application under Section 156(3) of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 and, then the non-applicant 1 lodged FIR against the applicants. The said FIR has been challenged in the present application.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Women Cell i.e. non-applicant 1 submitted that the investigation was complete and there is a <em>prima facie\u00a0<\/em>case against the applicants.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wife i.e. non-applicant 2 contended that the applicants along with her husband harassed her for dowry and there were several complaints filed by her with the Police Station as and when harassment was caused.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Senior Advocate, Anil S. Mardikar along with S.G. Joshi, Advocate, represented the applicants; M.K. Pathan Additional Public Prosecutor for the non-applicant 1 &#8211;State and M.N. Ali, Advocate for the non-applicant 2.<\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #800000;\">Analysis &amp; Decision<\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In light of adjudicating the present issue, bench considered it necessary to refer <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/bAf79H8r\">Section 498-A of Penal Code, 1860<\/a>:<\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 6\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/bAf79H8r\">498-A<\/a>. Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty &#8211; whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Explanation &#8211; For the purpose of this section, \u201ccruelty\u201d means-<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(a) Any willful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(b) Harassment of the women where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cruelty perpetuated to the woman may be physical or mental.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bench stated that saying, &#8220;we are also serving in the police and we have connections with the higher Authorities, or the husband of the non-applicant 2 got no benefit of the education of the non-applicant 2&#8221; cannot be stated to be cruelty to the woman.<\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 7\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nowadays, it has become a tendency to make vague and omnibus allegations, against every member of the family of the husband, implicating everybody under Section 498-A of the Penal Code.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It is necessary for the Courts to carefully scrutinize the allegations and to find out if the allegations made really constitute an offence and meet the requirements of the law at least <em>prima facie<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Bench further cited the following decision of the Supreme Court:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>G. Sagar Suri v. State of U.P.,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/1iB14r2a\">(2000) 2 SCC 636<\/a>, wherein it was observed that the criminal proceedings should not be allowed to be resorted to as shortcut to settle the score.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Indian Oil Corpn. v. NEPC India Ltd.,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/K5OF6yRW\">(2006) 6 SCC 736<\/a>, in this case, Supreme Court <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">deprecated the tendency of using the criminal justice system as a tool of arm twisting and to settle the score, and laid down that the High Court can intervene where the criminal justice system is used as a tool.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Kailash Chandra Agrawal v. State of U.P.,\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/r67QSZ26\">(2014) 16 SCC 551<\/a>, an observation was made that tendency, <span style=\"font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Oxygen-Sans, Ubuntu, Cantarell, 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif;\">which has been developed for roping in all relations of the in-laws by the wife in the matter of dowry deaths or such type of similar offences in an over-enthusiasm and anxiety to seek conviction needs to be deprecated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the present case, sisters-in-law and brother-in-law were arraigned as accused without there being specific allegation as regards the nature of cruelty, as contemplated by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/bAf79H8r\">Section 498-A IPC<\/a> against them.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In view of the impugned FIR and charge-sheet, Court opined that no allegations against the applicants constitute offences alleged.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Therefore, the criminal application was allowed in view of the above-stated.[Shabnam Sheikh v. State of Maharashtra, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.scconline.com\/DocumentLink\/YWetCDLW\"><b>2020 SCC OnLine Bom 1752<\/b><\/a>, decided on 15-10-2020]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bombay High Court: A Division Bench of Z.A. Haq and Amit B. Borkar, JJ., while allowing the present criminal application filed under <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8808,"featured_media":74381,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,10],"tags":[2570,2697,3000,43845,31299],"class_list":["post-237828","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-casebriefs","category-highcourts","tag-Cruelty","tag-Dowry","tag-harassment","tag-physical-and-mental-cruelty","tag-section-498-a-ipc"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.4 (Yoast SEO v26.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations | SCC Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Bombay High Court: A Division Bench of Z.A. Haq and Amit B. Borkar, JJ., while allowing the present criminal application filed under\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SCC Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-22T05:28:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-30T05:37:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1331\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"887\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bhumika Indulia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bhumika Indulia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/\",\"name\":\"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations | SCC Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-22T05:28:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-30T05:37:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg\",\"width\":1331,\"height\":887},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SCC Times\",\"description\":\"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a\",\"name\":\"Bhumika Indulia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Bhumika Indulia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_1\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations | SCC Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations","og_description":"Bombay High Court: A Division Bench of Z.A. Haq and Amit B. Borkar, JJ., while allowing the present criminal application filed under","og_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/","og_site_name":"SCC Times","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/scc.online\/","article_published_time":"2020-10-22T05:28:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-30T05:37:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1331,"height":887,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bhumika Indulia","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bhumika Indulia","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/","name":"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations | SCC Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","datePublished":"2020-10-22T05:28:59+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-30T05:37:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","width":1331,"height":887},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2020\/10\/22\/bom-hc-abuse-of-s-498-a-ipc-by-making-vague-allegations-and-roping-in-family-members-of-husband-courts-to-carefully-scrutinize-allegations\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Bom HC | Abuse of S. 498-A IPC by making vague allegations and roping in family members of husband: Courts to carefully scrutinize allegations"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/","name":"SCC Times","description":"Bringing you the Best Analytical Legal News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/919ec47cc1b871b362af05740398033a","name":"Bhumika Indulia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/Me-150x150.jpg","caption":"Bhumika Indulia"},"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/author\/editor_1\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/Bombay-HC.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":349218,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/05\/31\/forced-unnatural-sex-not-punishable-u-s-377-ipc-but-attracts-s-498-a-if-coupled-with-cruelty-assault-mp-high-court-scc-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":237828,"position":0},"title":"Forced Unnatural Sex not punishable under S. 377 IPC, but attracts S. 498-A if coupled with cruelty\/assault: MP High Court","author":"Ritu","date":"May 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Cruelty under Section 498-A IPC does not necessarily require proof of dowry demands; physical or mental cruelty alone is sufficient.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Madhya Pradesh High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/Madhya-Pradesh-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":297899,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2023\/07\/28\/misuse-section-498a-ipc-increasing-implicating-relatives-husband-jharkhand-high-court\/","url_meta":{"origin":237828,"position":1},"title":"Misuse of Section 498-A, IPC by implicating husband&#8217;s relatives in matrimonial disputes; Jharkhand High Court quashes criminal complaint","author":"Ridhi","date":"July 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The Jharkhand High Court reiterated the object of Section 498-A of IPC to punish cruelty by husband and his relatives.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"jharkhand high court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/jharkhand-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/jharkhand-high-court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/jharkhand-high-court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/jharkhand-high-court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":266567,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2022\/05\/07\/irretrievable-breakdown-of-marriage-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":237828,"position":2},"title":"Irretrievable breakdown of Marriage: Chh HC dissolves marriage on appeal filed by husband against trial court order","author":"Bhumika Indulia","date":"May 7, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Chhattisgarh High Court: Sanjay S. Agrawal, J., reversed the judgment of the trial court and granted divorce in an application filed by the husband, while granting Rs 15 lakhs permanent alimony to the wife. Applicant-Husband had preferred an appeal under Section 28 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 questioning the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":351099,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/06\/20\/bom-hc-section-498a-ipc-wifes-tendency-to-implicate-husband-to-settle-personal-scores\/","url_meta":{"origin":237828,"position":3},"title":"\u201cIt\u2019s wife&#8217;s tendency to implicate husband and his family members to settle personal scores\u201d: Bombay HC Quashes Dowry Harassment FIR against In-Laws","author":"Editor","date":"June 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Only out of ulterior motive to settle personal score, wife makes generalized and sweeping accusation unsupported by concrete evidence. As a result, the family members of husband have to face agony of criminal trial, when no prima facie case is made out against them.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bombay High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":356685,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2025\/08\/14\/bom-hc-comments-on-wifes-clothing-and-cooking-not-cruelty\/","url_meta":{"origin":237828,"position":4},"title":"Can remarks on wife\u2019s clothing and cooking amount to cruelty under S. 498-A IPC? Bombay High Court weighs in","author":"Editor","date":"August 14, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cMaking statements such as, the wife does not wear proper clothes or was not able to cook food properly, cannot be said to be acts of grave cruelty or harassment as per the explanations given in Section 498-A of the Penal Code, 1860.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Comments on wife clothing & cooking not cruelty","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Comments-on-wife-clothing-cooking-not-cruelty.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Comments-on-wife-clothing-cooking-not-cruelty.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Comments-on-wife-clothing-cooking-not-cruelty.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Comments-on-wife-clothing-cooking-not-cruelty.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":329404,"url":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/2024\/08\/27\/bombay-hc-quashes-s-498-a-proceedings-against-paramour-of-husband\/","url_meta":{"origin":237828,"position":5},"title":"Read why Bombay HC quashed S. 498-A IPC proceedings initiated against husband\u2019s paramour by wife","author":"Editor","date":"August 27, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cFor the attraction of Section 498-A, cruelty shall be inflicted upon the wife either by the husband or a relative of the husband; a paramour in extra-marital affair is not a relative of the husband.\u201d","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Case Briefs&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Case Briefs","link":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/post\/category\/casebriefs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bombay High Court","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Bombay-High-Court.webp?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237828","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8808"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237828"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237828\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237828"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237828"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.scconline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237828"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}