Actress Hansika Motwani and her mother have approached the Bombay High Court seeking to cancel a cruelty case filed by her sister-in-law. They claim the FIR is out of malice after demanding repayment of a Rs 27 lakh wedding loan.
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MUMBAI: Famous film and TV actress Hansika Motwani and her mother Jyoti Motwani have gone to the Bombay High Court to request cancellation of a criminal case registered against them. The case was filed under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with cruelty towards a woman by her husband or his family members.
The case has been filed by Muskan James, who is Hansika’s sister-in-law.
On Thursday, a bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal and Justice SM Modak issued a notice to the parties in the case and fixed the next date of hearing for July 3.
Muskan James is a known TV actress. She got married to Prashant Motwani, Hansika’s brother, in December 2020. But unfortunately, their marriage did not last long. They decided to separate in December 2022.
Later, in 2024, Muskan James filed an FIR (First Information Report) against Hansika, Jyoti Motwani, and Prashant Motwani, accusing them of multiple criminal offences. These include:
- Section 498A – cruelty by husband or relatives of the husband,
- Section 323 – voluntarily causing hurt,
- Section 504 – intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace,
- Section 506 – criminal intimidation.
After this FIR was registered, Hansika and her mother Jyoti approached the Mumbai Sessions Court and successfully got anticipatory bail in March 2024. This bail protected them from being arrested by the police.
After getting bail, the mother-daughter duo decided to move the Bombay High Court to get the FIR completely quashed (cancelled).
According to Hansika, the criminal complaint filed by Muskan James was done with bad intentions. Hansika said that the issue started when she asked Muskan James to return Rs 27 lakh, which Hansika had given her as a loan during her wedding with Prashant Motwani.
Hansika claims that this money was used to pay the wedding planners, but neither Muskan nor Prashant returned the money to her. This financial matter, according to Hansika, is the main reason behind the FIR.
In her plea, Hansika has clearly said that “the FIR against her is motivated by malice” and was filed only because she asked for her money back.
She added that she had loaned Rs 27 lakh to James for the wedding, and said:
“The said amount was used to pay wedding planners but neither James nor her husband (Hansika’s brother) returned the said money.”
Hansika is being represented in the High Court by Advocate Drishti Khurana, while her mother Jyoti has filed her petition through Advocate Adnan Shaikh.
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