General and omnibus allegations against relatives, without specific instances, warrant quashing of prosecution under Section 482 CrPC.

Respondent No. 2 married applicant No. 1, Purshottam Singh, on 12 February 2023. She alleged that, after approximately one-and-a-half years of marriage, applicant Nos. 1–4—her husband, mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law—demanded a gold chain from her parental family and subjected her to physical and mental cruelty. The FIR alleged a specific incident on 20 August 2024 involving the demand for dowry and assault by her husband, followed by general allegations of continuing cruelty by all the applicants. Respondent No. 2 left the matrimonial home on 18 November 2025 and lodged FIR/Crime No. 593/2025 on 5 December 2025 at Police Station Pali, District Umariya, for an offence under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The applicants invoked Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, seeking quashing of the FIR and consequential proceedings. At the outset, counsel withdrew the petition insofar as it concerned applicant No. 1, and the petition was dismissed as withdrawn against him. As to applicant Nos. 2–4, it was argued that the allegations were general and omnibus, that no specific acts of cruelty were attributed to them, and that they did not reside in the matrimonial household with respondent No. 2. The State and respondent No. 2 opposed quashing, contending that the allegations disclosed an offence requiring determination at trial.

1. Whether the FIR and consequential criminal proceedings against applicant Nos. 2–4 under Section 85 of the BNS should be quashed under the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. where the allegations against them are general and omnibus and do not specify the date, place or time of the alleged cruelty?

2. Whether the petition should be permitted to be withdrawn insofar as it relates to applicant No. 1?

The Court exercised its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to prevent abuse of the process of law and quash criminal proceedings that lack sufficient, specific allegations. Section 85 of the BNS was the substantive provision invoked in the FIR concerning cruelty by the husband or his relatives in connection with matrimonial and dowry-related allegations.

Relying on Kahkashan Kausar alias Sonam v. State of Bihar, (2022) 6 SCC 599, and K. Subba Rao v. State of Telangana, (2018) 14 SCC 452, the Court held that distant or collateral relatives should not be prosecuted on the basis of omnibus allegations without specific instances of involvement. Preeti Gupta v. State of Jharkhand, (2010) 7 SCC 667, requires courts to scrutinise matrimonial complaints with care because of the tendency to implicate the husband’s relatives collectively. In Dara Lakshmi Narayana v. State of Telangana, (2024) 12 SCR, the Supreme Court held that vague allegations lacking particulars of time, place, manner and individual involvement cannot sustain prosecution and that mere reference to family members, without specific allegations of active participation, may constitute abuse of process.

The Court examined the FIR and the statements of the prosecution witnesses and found that, although respondent No. 2 alleged dowry-related cruelty by the family, no specific incident, date, place or time was attributed to applicant Nos. 2–4.

The FIR contained a particularised allegation of assault and dowry demand primarily against the husband, but the allegations against the mother-in-law, brother-in-law and sister-in-law were collective and undifferentiated. Applying the principles in Kahkashan Kausar, Preeti Gupta and Dara Lakshmi Narayana, the Court held that such omnibus allegations were insufficient to justify continuation of criminal prosecution against the relatives, particularly where they were stated not to have resided in the common matrimonial household. The Court therefore concluded that permitting the prosecution against applicant Nos. 2–4 to continue would amount to victimisation and abuse of the process of law.

FIR/Crime No. 593/2025 registered at Police Station Pali, District Umariya, under Section 85 of the BNS, and all consequential proceedings against applicant Nos. 2–4 were quashed. They were discharged from the alleged offence, and any bail or surety bonds furnished by them were ordered to stand discharged.