Cruelty case against sister-in-law after 18 yrs of wedlock quashed by HC

Kolkata: Observing that permitting the case would be an abuse of law, the Calcutta High Court has quashed cruelty charges against a sister-in-law brought by her brother’s wife after 18 years of the latter’s marriage.

The Bench of Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) was moved by the sister-in-law Tanushree Das, praying for quashing of a criminal case against her pending before the lower court. She was mainly accused under Section 498A IPC (cruelty against married woman by her husband or husband’s kin). The petitioner is an assistant teacher in a government school at Chakdaha, Nadia. The de facto complainant has been her brother’s wife since 2006. The brother and his wife are residents of Krishnanagar while the petitioner lives in Chakdaha. The distance between the two places is about 50 km.

The court observed that there is no specific allegation against the petitioner. The case diary also showed that the allegations are general in nature and the written complaint in the case has been filed after almost 18 years of marriage and permitting the case to be proved against the petitioner herein, will clearly be an abuse of the process of law. Quashing the charges against the petitioner, the court took into account several Supreme Court observations, especially one in Preeti Gupta vs State of Jharkhand where it was held that “the courts have to be extremely careful and cautious in dealing with these complaints and must take pragmatic realties into consideration while dealing with matrimonial cases. The allegations of harassment by the husband’s close relatives

who had been living in different cities and never visited or rarely visited the place where the complainant resided would have an entirely different complexion. The allegations of the complainant are required to be scrutinized with great care and circumspection”.