Karnataka High Court stays cruelty case against husband for not allowing wife to eat french fries

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday came to the aid of a man facing charges under Section 498A (cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for allegedly not allowing his wife to eat french fries..Justice M Nagaprasanna noted that the claims in the complaint against the man were absolutely trivial and, therefore, stayed the investigation against him in the case.“Allowing any investigation against the husband would become an abuse of the process of law and putting a premium on the allegations of the wife that she was not given to eat french fries at the relevant point of time. Therefore, there shall be an interim order of stay on all investigation qua the husband,” the High Court said..The Court also allowed the man to travel to the United States for work after accepting his undertaking that he will cooperate with the investigating authorities and not “vanish.”.In his petition filed through Advocate Shanthi Bhushan H, the husband alleged that the complaint against him was frivolous and sought a stay on the investigation..Advocate Bhushan told the Court that the wife had filed a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC against the man and his parents. The Court had previously stayed the probe against the parents. He submitted that his client was employed in the United States but was unable to go back since the jurisdictional court had issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against him following the wife’s complaint..The wife had claimed in the complaint that her husband had “refused to allow her to eat French fries, rice, and meat soon after she gave birth to their child.”The husband, on the other hand, argued that the wife used to make him do all the household chores during the six years that the couple was living in the United States before the birth of their child.“The time that she did not spend on the phone, she spent watching Pakistani dramas,” the man said in his reply filed before the Court..Justice Nagaprasanna said this was a clear abuse of the process of law and that the LOC was being “used as a weapon” in the case..The Court added that the entire complaint seemed frivolous and that it was inclined to allow the man to go to the United States for work.“What is the offence against the husband you tell me? He is crying foul saying ‘she asked me to clean the bathroom, wash vessels and she was watching television. And in turn, the allegation is 498 A against me.’ This is misuse and abuse. The averments in the complaint are as vague as vagueness could be. Allowing any investigation against the husband would become an abuse of the process of law and putting a premium on the allegations of the wife that she was not given to eat french fries at the relevant point of time. Therefore, there shall be an interim order of stay on all investigation qua the husband,” the Court said.