Supreme Court Seeks Response On Anubhav Mohanty's Plea To Quash Ex-Wife's Criminal Case

The Bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi sought a response from the State of Odisha and other respondents on Mohanty’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging an Orissa High Court judgment that had refused to discharge him from the case.

Advocates RD Singh and Divya Tripathi appeared for the former MP. 

The petition filed through AoR Ashish Choudhury challenges the High Court’s order dated January 30, 2026, which upheld a trial court decision refusing to discharge Mohanty and his family members from offences alleged in FIR No. 276/2020 registered at Purighat Police Station, Cuttack.

Background of the Dispute

Mohanty and his former wife, both well-known figures in the Odia film industry, married in 2014. According to the petition, the marriage was never consummated and eventually broke down irretrievably.

Mohanty claims that he filed for divorce before the Patiala House Courts in New Delhi in July 2020. He alleges that thereafter his former wife initiated multiple proceedings against him, including a domestic violence complaint and other police complaints.

The criminal case at the centre of the present proceedings arose from a complaint lodged in December 2020 alleging offences under Sections 498-A, 506, 341 and other provisions of the IPC.

Allegation of Abuse of Criminal Process

In the Supreme Court, Mohanty has argued that the criminal proceedings were initiated “with the sole ulterior motive of wreaking vengeance” upon him and his family.

The petition states that the allegations are “wholly baseless, vague, omnibus in nature and devoid of any cogent material or specific particulars” and that the dispute is essentially matrimonial in character.

“The criminal law has been invoked as a tool of harassment and arm-twisting in what is essentially a civil and matrimonial dispute,” the plea contends.

Mohanty has further alleged that the investigating officer ignored material supplied by him during the investigation and mechanically added additional offences while filing the charge sheet.

Reliance on divorce and domestic violence orders

The plea also relies on subsequent developments in related proceedings.

Mohanty obtained a decree of divorce from the Orissa High Court in December 2023 on grounds of cruelty and non-consummation of marriage.

Further, in April 2025, a Magistrate court dismissed the domestic violence complaint filed by his former wife, observing that she had failed to establish any act of domestic violence and had not produced medical evidence supporting allegations of assault.

Challenge to High Court judgment

According to Mohanty, the Orissa High Court dismissed his criminal revision petition in a “mechanical manner” without analysing the ingredients of the alleged offences or considering the surrounding facts and evidence.

He has sought quashing of the criminal proceedings arising out of FIR No. 276/2020 and an interim stay on further proceedings before the trial court.

Proceeding before Supreme Court

When the matter came up before the Bench of Justices Sandeep Mehta and Vijay Bishnoi, the Court issued notice and sought a response from the respondents.

The plea will now be considered further after replies are filed.