Calcutta High Court quashes Section 498A FIR by wife against husband, in-laws filed 19 years after marriage

The Calcutta High Court on Thursday quashed a case of cruelty lodged in March 2010 by a woman against her husband, his mother and sister under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) [Suman Kumar Das vs State of West Bengal]..Single-judge Justice Shampa Dutt (Paul) noted that the complainant-wife lodged the FIR after 19 years of marriage. "The allegations in the written complaint are general in nature and do not make out even a prima facie case against the petitioner in respect of the offences alleged. The present case has been filed 19 years after marriage with no supporting materials on record, to show that the ingredients required to constitute the offences alleged are present against any of the petitioners and thus permitting such a case to proceed towards trial will be an abuse of the process of law and the proceeding is liable to be quashed, in the interest of justice," Justice Dutt observed in the order. .As per the FIR lodged at the Dum Dum Police Station in North 24 Parganas, the petitioner married the complainant-wife in 1991. However, he allegedly tortured her for dowry, the wife alleged. She further claimed that the husband asked her to either give him divorce or commit suicide as she wasn't able to conceive a child. This, the wife contended was done by the petitioner only to enter into a second marriage. The husband, however, relied on an order passed by the High Court in September 2019 wherein it was noted that the couple hardly lived together for a few days after the marriage; instead they lived separately for a major period of their marriage..The bench noted the contentions and also the observations in the September 2019 order. It further noted that the complainant and also the prosecution failed to adduce any evidence supporting the claim that she was beaten mercilessly. "The complaint has been filed 19 years after marriage. Prima facie there are no materials to substantiate the charges against the petitioners. The case thus, stands quashed," the judge held..Advocates Arun Kr Maiti, Kaberi Sengupta, RR Mohanty, Sukanya Basu and Shivam Saha appeared for the Petitioner. Advocates Anwar Hossain and Sujata Das represented the State. .[Read Judgment]