Complaint Of Dowry Harassment Can't Be Quashed Even If Divorce Notice Issued: Karnataka HC

The Karnataka High Court quashed a petition filed by a husband seeking to dismiss a dowry harassment complaint filed by his wife under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) after he sent her a legal divorce notice to dissolve their marriage.

Justice M. Nagaprasanna observed that the laws enacted to protect women from dowry harassment and domestic violence cannot be considered elusive merely because the complaints were filed after the husband sent a divorce notice seeking the dissolution of marriage. That would lead to the complaint losing its significance.

Dowry Complaint Cannot Be Quashed

The court was hearing a petition filed by the husband seeking to dismiss the criminal cases his wife had registered against him after he sent her a divorce notice. The wife had left her husband’s home after experiencing torture. Following her refusal to return, the husband sent a legal divorce notice in October 2022, seeking an amicable dissolution of marriage. In December 2022, however, the wife registered a complaint against the husband under sections 498A, 307, and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

The petitioner/husband claimed that the wife’s complaint was just a counterblast to the legal divorce notice that he sent and that there were no ingredients to support offences under Section 498A. He argued that the wife filing a complaint after he sent her a divorce notice makes the crime lose its significance.

Based on its findings, the court found that the wife had accused the husband of several instances of abuse, both physical and emotional. The wife also mentioned that the husband had tried to strangle her and that she had to seek medical treatment for a spinal cord injury.

The court observed that the statements recorded during the investigation clearly point out ingredients of the offences claimed under Section 307 of the IPC, which the wife had mentioned as strangulation and giving blows on the back, which equalled an attempt to murder. The court noted that these allegations cannot merely be ignored because they were registered immediately after receiving divorce notice from the husband.

The court stated that inlaws and relatives were unnecessarily dragged into matrimonial disputes in certain cases. However, it highlighted that the allegations must be considered on a case-by-case basis. It further stated that if the complaint was brushed away, it would defeat the very objective of Section 498A of the IPC and Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.

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