Gujarat High Court Quashes Cruelty Case Against Mother-In-Law, Says Section 498A Not Attracted As Complainant's Marriage Was Void
The Gujarat High Court has quashed a cruelty case against a mother-in-law, ruling that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code could not be invoked because the complainant's marriage to the applicant's son was void. The marriage, the court noted, was contracted while the complainant's first marriage was still in existence.
The court was hearing an application under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, filed by the mother-in-law of the complainant. She had sought quashing of an FIR registered under Sections 498A, 323, 494, 406 and 114 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. A Single Bench of Justice P. M. Raval delivered the ruling.
The court observed that the complainant had married another man in 2003, and that marriage was dissolved only on 20 November 2007. Her marriage to the applicant's son took place on 1 February 2007, during the subsistence of the first marriage. Relying on settled legal position, the Bench held that the second marriage was null and void, and therefore Section 498A IPC was not attracted.
The Bench referred to the Supreme Court's decision in Shivcharan LaL Verma and Anr. v. State of M.P., (2007) 15 SCC 369, where it was held that an alleged second marriage during the subsistence of a first valid marriage is null and void, and a conviction under Section 498A IPC was set aside. The court also said that allegations that the husband later married another woman in 2012 and obtained a divorce were insignificant, since the complainant herself had entered into marriage with the applicant's son while her previous marriage was still in force.
On Section 406 IPC, which deals with criminal breach of trust, the Bench held that in the absence of any entrustment alleged in the FIR, the provision did not apply. The court concluded that the proceedings against the applicant appeared manifestly frivolous and were instituted with an ulterior motive of wreaking vengeance. Exercising its powers under Section 482 of the Code, the Bench quashed the FIR against the mother-in-law.
Senior Advocate Harshit Tolia represented the applicant, while Additional Public Prosecutor Rohan Shah appeared for the respondent. The case is titled A v. State Of Gujarat (R/CR.MA/2785/2018).
Source: Verdictum