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Synopsis

The Kerala High Court has recently observed that the practice of registering FIRs under Section 498A of the IPC for trivial disputes involving spouses or their relatives does not align with the legislative intent.

“The practice of registering FIR alleging offence under Section 498 A IPC and setting the criminal law in motion on the basis of trivial disputes or differences between the spouses or the relatives may not reflect the legislative intent or the mischief to be suppressed under that provision,” the bench observed.

The single-judge bench of the Kerala High Court, presided over by Justice P. Somarajan, was hearing a revision plea filed by the husband against the conviction under Section 498A of the IPC.

The man had been convicted by the trial court for dowry demands and assaulting his wife. However, the bench found no evidence on record to substantiate claims of any assault against the wife.

The High Court observed that minor disputes or disagreements between spouses or relatives, in the usual course of events, are not sufficient to warrant an offence under Section 498A of the IPC.

“Mere sporadic incidents of ill-treatment or mundane differences or trivial disputes that may arise between the spouses or their relatives in the usual course of life, though it may have its own impact, may not be sufficient to bring out the offence under Section 498 A IPC,” the order states,

Furthermore, the bench said that unless there is an ingredient of harassment for meeting the demand of dowry would not constitute criminal liability.

“A mere skirmish in the ordinary life between the spouses or intermittent quarrel or even a frequent quarrel, unless constitutes the ingredient of 'harassment' for meeting an unlawful demand for property or valuable security or on account of failure to meet such unlawful demand, would not constitute or attract the criminal liability that can be fastened for the offence under Section 498 A IPC,” the order states.

Justice Somarajan, while overturning the conviction order, emphasized that authorities should exercise greater vigilance and caution when initiating criminal proceedings, avoiding the unnecessary involvement of mundane disputes or differences between spouses or their relatives in criminal prosecutions under Section 498A of the IPC.

Case title: ABC vs XYZ