Mere silence and vague, undated allegations against relatives cannot sustain a Section 498-A prosecution.

In brief

The question

Whether the allegation that the petitioners remained silent while the first accused abused the complainant was sufficient to sustain the charge under Section 498-A IPC

The court held

The Court allowed the petition and quashed the charge sheet in C.C. No. 78 of 2024 insofar as the petitioners were concerned

It also directed

The connected miscellaneous petitions were closed

01Facts

The petitioners, Accused Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7 in C.C. No. 78 of 2024, sought to quash proceedings against them for alleged offences under Sections 294(b), 417 and 498-A of the IPC

p. 2

The charge sheet alleged, among other things, that the petitioners remained silent when the first accused abused the complainant and that Accused Nos. 1 to 5 abused her and drove her from the matrimonial home

pp. 3–4

In a later statement under Section 161(3) CrPC, the complainant retracted her allegation that her husband had remarried, saying she had made a false statement out of anger and had exaggerated the incident

p. 3

The complainant did not appear in the quash proceedings despite service of notice

p. 4

02Issues

i.Whether the allegation that the petitioners remained silent while the first accused abused the complainant was sufficient to sustain the charge under Section 498-A IPC

p. 5

ii.Whether the proceedings against the petitioners should continue where the allegation that they abused and drove the complainant from the matrimonial home lacked a specific date or time

p. 5

03Law Applied

The Court considered the petition under Section 528 of the BNSS, seeking to quash proceedings in C.C. No. 78 of 2024

p. 2

It held that the petitioners’ silence, by itself, would not attract Section 498-A IPC; it also considered the absence of any specific date or time for the alleged act of driving the complainant from the matrimonial home

p. 5

Provisions in the judgment · 4 · Linked ones open on LawLens

Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 Section 528

Indian Penal Code, 1860 Section 294 Section 417

Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 Section 161

04Reasoning

The Court found that the allegations against the petitioners were that they remained silent when the first accused abused the complainant and that they abused and drove her from the matrimonial home

pp. 4–5

Silence alone did not establish an offence under Section 498-A IPC, while the allegation of driving her out lacked a specific date or time in the FIR, charge sheet or Section 161 statement

p. 5

The Court also took account of the complainant’s retraction concerning her husband’s alleged second marriage and her statement that she had exaggerated the incident

p. 3, 5

It concluded that continuing the proceedings against the petitioners would amount to an abuse of process

p. 5