Supreme Court Quashes Dowry Harassment Complaint Against Husband's Relatives Filed Post-Divorce.


16 April 2025 Criminal Appeals & Suspension of Sentence >> Criminal Law   |   Husband or relative subjecting the women to cruelty >> Criminal Law   |   Divorce Law >> Family Law   |   Dowry >> Marriage Law  

The Supreme Court in the matter of Sushila & Ors. Vs State of U.P. & Ors., allowed the appeal filed by the relatives of Kumar Saurabh (husband) against the order of the High Court that had dismissed their petition for quashing the summoning order issued by the Trial Court. 

The summoning order was related to a complaint filed by Kumar Saurabh's wife, Smt. Charusmita (respondent no. 2), under Sections 498A, 323, 504, 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860, and Section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

The marriage between Kumar Saurabh and Smt. Charusmita took place on June 17, 2010. She left the matrimonial home in October 2010, and an ex-parte divorce decree was granted to the husband on May 31, 2012. Approximately three years after the divorce, Smt. Charusmita filed a complaint, leading to the summoning order against the husband's relatives (appellants).

 

 

The Supreme Court noted that the complaint lacked specific allegations against the appellants regarding the period when the marriage was subsisting and the couple lived together. The only allegation against the appellants pertained to an incident that allegedly occurred on August 16, 2015, at the wife's residence, which was after the divorce decree.

Relying on its previous judgments, particularly in Geeta Mehrotra and Dara Lakshmi Narayana, the Court reiterated its disapproval of the practice of implicating all relatives of the husband in matrimonial disputes without specific and substantial allegations. The Court found no justification for the appellants, being the husband's relatives, to be prosecuted for offences related to dowry demand after the dissolution of the marriage. 

Consequently, the Supreme Court quashed the complaint case against the appellants, holding that allowing the trial to proceed would amount to a vexatious trial.


Section 323., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 498A., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 504., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Section 506., Indian Penal Code - 1860  

Indian Penal Code, 1860  

Section 4, Dowry Prohibition Act - 1961  

Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961