Appeal against the order passed in Criminal Revision
2. These Appeals by special leave are directed against Order dt.14.11.2018 passed by the High Court of Allahabad in Criminal Revision No. 612/2004 filed against the judgment and order dt. 18.11.2004 passed by the Additional Sessions Judge, Lucknow [hereinafter “Sessions Court”] whereby the Criminal Appeal No. 88/2004 filed by the Appellant was dismissed and the conviction of the Appellant under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (hereinafter “IPC” & Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 [hereinafter “DP Act, 1961”] vide Judgment dt. 28.08.2004 passed by the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Lucknow [hereinafter “Magistrate”] was upheld. The Order dt. 28.11.2018 dismissing the recall application against the said Order dt.14.11.2018 is also under challenge before this Court.
4. It has been vehemently argued by the learned Counsel for the Appellant that the Impugned Judgment dt. 14.11.2018 passed by the High Court, suffers from non-application of mind, and non-consideration of the merits of the case. Learned Counsel for the Appellant submitted that the allegations under Section 498A IPC and Section 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961, were unsustainable qua the Appellant, as there is no independent evidence on behalf of the prosecution, and the entire case hinges upon the deposition of the father of the Complainant and Complainant herself. It was argued that the Complainant who cohabited with the Appellant only for a period of about a year, had made bald allegations without any specifics of date, time or event, in the FIR in Case Crime No. 60/1999, which has only been registered as a counter-blast to the Divorce Petition preferred by the Appellant. It is brought to our notice that the divorce decree in lieu of their marriage, has already been passed, and the same has never been challenged by the Complainant, and hence has attained finality.
5. It has also been urged by the learned Counsel for the Appellant, that the High Court passed the Impugned Order in absence of representation of a Counsel on behalf of the Appellant, which is not permissible. Learned Counsel for the Appellant submitted that in the absence of a Counsel for the Appellant, the High Court could have appointed an amicus-curiae to represent the case of the Appellant, rather than passing an adversarial order against him.
6. On the other hand, it has been argued on behalf of the State that to establish cruelty within the threshold of Section 498A, the evidence of the relatives of the Complainant wife cannot be brushed aside. The deposition of the father of the Complainant does establish that the Complainant was time and again harassed, and beaten her up for not bringing enough dowry. Reliance was placed on Bhagwan Jagannath Markad v. State of Maharashtra, Arun Vyas & Anr. v. Anita Vyas, Surendran v. State of Kerala.
Analysis
7. Having heard the learned counsel for the respective parties and having perused the record, the question remains whether the High Court vide Impugned Order dt. 14.11.2018 whilst exercising its revisionary jurisdiction, was correct in upholding the conviction of the Appellant under Section 498A IPC & Section 4 D.P. Act, 1961. In that respect, it is prudent to examine the statutory provisions, which are as under:
“Acts and Sections”
Cruelty under section 498A IPC and sections 3 & 4 of D.P Act: Explained
8. At the outset, an act of ‘cruelty’ for the purpose of Section 498A, corresponds to a willful conduct of such nature, that may cause danger to the life, limb and health of the woman, which is inclusive of the mental and physical health and the harassment caused to her, by coercing her to meet unlawful demands or impossible standards. Further, the demand for dowry in terms of Section 3 and Section 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961 refers to both a direct or indirect manner of demand for dowry made by the husband or his family members. In order to meet the threshold of the offences under Section 498A IPC & Sections 3 & 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961, the allegations cannot be ambiguous or made in thin air.
9. In the present case, the allegations made by the Complainant are vague, omnibus and bereft of any material particulars to substantiate this threshold. Apart from claiming that Appellant husband harassed her for want of dowry, the Complainant has not given any specific details or described any particular instance of harassment. The allegations in the FIR, and the depositions of the prosecution witnesses suggest that on multiple occasions, the Complainant wife was ousted from the matrimonial house, and kicked and punched in the presence of her father, PW-2 herein and she was repeatedly tormented with dowry demands, and when she was unable to honor them, the Appellant and her family physically beat her up; whereas she has not mentioned the time, date, place, or manner in which the alleged harassment occurred. It is alleged that the Complainant suffered a miscarriage, as she fell down, when the Appellant and her family who pushed her out of the house; however, no medical document from any medical institution or hospital or nursery was produced to substantiate the allegations.
11. The Trial Court has indeed applied its judicial mind to the material on record whilst acquitting the Appellant and the coaccused parents-in-law for offences under Section 323 r/w 34 & Section 506 IPC. However, it appears that the Trial Court had passed the order of conviction of the Appellant under Section 498A IPC & Section 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961, merely on the possibility that the allegations and the depositions of the PW-1 corroborated by PW2, are true and correct. Although one cannot deny the emotional or mental torture that the Complainant may have undergone in the marriage, however a cursory or plausible view cannot be conclusive proof to determine the guilt of an individual under Section 498A & Section 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961, especially to obviate malicious criminal prosecution of family members in matrimonial disputes. In this respect, we also cannot ignore that the FIR dt. 20.12.1999 was registered after the Appellant had filed the Divorce Petition under Section 13 of Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 on 06.02.1999. In consideration thereof and that the Complainant had cohabited with the Appellant only for a period of about a year, it appears that the FIR registered by the Complainant was not genuine.
High court could have saved 6 years worth of time to decide the Criminal Revision
12. In respect thereof, the High Court while exercising its revisionary jurisdiction ought to have examined the correctness of decision of the Trial Court in light of the material on record, which reveals nothing incriminatory against the Appellant to sustain a conviction under Section 498A IPC or Section 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961. Although we do not agree with the submission on behalf of the Appellant that the Impugned Order dt. 14.11.2018 was passed in absentia, however the High Court was well within its revisionary powers to discern whether an FIR and the proceedings emanating therefrom were sustainable. In all certainty, it could have saved 6 years’ worth of time for the Appellant, who has endured litigation for over 20 years as of today.
Mere reference to the names of family members in a criminal case arising out of a matrimonial dispute without specific allegations indicating their active involvement should be nipped in the bud
13. Notwithstanding the merits of the case, we are distressed with the manner, the offences under Section 498A IPC, and Sections 3 & 4 of the D.P. Act, 1961 are being maliciously roped in by Complainant wives, insofar as aged parents, distant relatives, married sisters living separately, are arrayed as accused, in matrimonial matters. This growing tendency to append every relative of the husband, casts serious doubt on the veracity of the allegations made by the Complainant wife or her family members, and vitiates the very objective of a protective legislation. The observations made by this Hon’ble Court in the case of Dara Lakshmi Narayana & Ors. v. State of Telangana & Anr appropriately encapsulates this essence as under:
“25. A mere reference to the names of family members in a criminal case arising out of a matrimonial dispute, without specific allegations indicating their active involvement should be nipped in the bud. It is a well recognised fact, borne out of judicial experience, that there is often a tendency to implicate all the members of the husband’s family when domestic disputes arise out of a matrimonial discord. Such generalised and sweeping accusations unsupported by concrete evidence or particularised allegations cannot form the basis for criminal prosecution. Courts must exercise caution in such cases to prevent misuse of legal provisions and the legal process and avoid unnecessary harassment of innocent family members. In the present case, appellant Nos.2 to 6, who are the members of the family of appellant No.1 have been living in different cities and have not resided in the matrimonial house of appellant No.1 and respondent No.2 herein. Hence, they cannot be dragged into criminal prosecution and the same would be an abuse of the process of the law in the absence of specific allegations made against each of them.”
How to prove cruelty? Explained
14. The term “cruelty” is subject to rather cruel misuse by the parties, and cannot be established simpliciter without specific instances, to say the least. The tendency of roping these sections, without mentioning any specific dates, time or incident, weakens the case of the prosecutions, and casts serious suspicion on the viability of the version of a Complainant. We cannot ignore the missing specifics in a criminal complaint, which is the premise of invoking criminal machinery of the State. Be that as it may, we are informed that the marriage of the Appellant has already been dissolved and the divorce decree has attained finality, hence any further prosecution of the Appellant will only tantamount to an abuse of process of law.
Conclusion
15. We accordingly allow the Appeals and the Order dt.14.11.2018 passed by the High Court of Allahabad in Criminal Revision No. 612/2004 convicting the Appellant under Section 498A of IPC & Section 4 of D.P. Act, 1961, is set aside and the Appellant is acquitted of all the charges.
Acts and Sections involved
Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860:
– Section 498A (Cruelty by husband or relatives) and
– Section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and
– Section 506 (Criminal intimidation) –
Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961:
– Section 3 (Penalty for giving or taking dowry) and
– Section 4 (Penalty for demanding dowry)
Judgments cited
– Bhagwan Jagannath Markad v. State of Maharashtra, (2016) 10 SCC 537
– Arun Vyas & Anr. v. Anita Vyas, (1999) 4 SCC 690
– Surendran v. State of Kerala, (2022) 15 SCC 273
– Dara Lakshmi Narayana & Ors. v. State of Telangana & Anr., (2025) 3 SCC 735
Party
Rajesh Chaddha vs. State of U.P – Criminal Appeal arising out of SLP (Crl.) Nos. 2353-2354 of 2019 – May 13, 2025 – 2025 INSC 671 – Hon’ble Mr. Justice B. V. Nagarathna and Hon’ble Mr. Justice Satish Chandra Sharma.
