Pendency of Divorce Petition Does Not Mean Dowry Demand Was Bogus: Supreme Court
Supreme Court has said that just because the complainant wife was suffering from disease or divorce between the couple was pending, a case for dowry demand cannot be quashed
The Supreme Court has held that criminal proceedings against dowry demand will not be quashed solely on the ground that divorce between parties is pending.
The bench has overturned a judgment of the Allahabad High Court which quashed criminal proceedings filed by a woman against her husband while observing that since the wife was suffering from AIDS and a divorce petition between the couple was pending, it was improbable that a demand for dowry was put out by accused husband. A bench of Justices KT Shah & CT Ravikumar said that mere affliction of disease or divorce petition are not a ground for holding that the dowry demands were bogus.
The Supreme Court has stated that the High Court has "seriously erred" in exercising its powers under section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (inherent powers of the court) and has "exceeded its jurisdiction" while ordering to quash the criminal proceedings.
"Once the charge sheet was filed after the investigation having been found prima facie case, it cannot be said that the prosecution was bogus," the top court noted, while setting aside the order of the High Court and termed the quashing order "unsustainable". It said that the criminal proceedings against the original accused shall be restored.
The woman had approached top court in appeal after being dissatisfied by May 2019 order of the High Court by which the accused were granted relief as proceedings for offences under section 498-A (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty), section 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and Section 3 (Penalty for giving or taking dowry) and 4 (Penalty for demanding dowry) of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 were quashed by the high court.