The Jammu & Kashmir High Court canceled an FIR under IPC 498-A against Sumesh Chadha, stating he was falsely implicated to pressurize the husband’s family. The court warned against misusing legal provisions in matrimonial disputes.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
SRINAGAR: The Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh High Court canceled the First Information Report (FIR) that was filed under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Sumesh Chadha.
He is the maternal uncle of the complainant woman’s husband. This section of the IPC is about punishing a husband or his relatives if they are cruel to a woman.
A Single Judge Bench, led by Justice Rajnesh Oswal at the Jammu bench of the High Court, strongly criticized the trend of dragging distant relatives of the husband into matrimonial disputes without solid proof.
The court observed that the complainant, referred to as respondent no.2, had named the petitioner in the case just to pressurize her husband’s family to return her expensive jewelry or stridhan.
“The petitioner has been arrayed as accused only to pressurize him to persuade his sister, nephew and brother-in-law to hand over the jewelry/articles to the complainant,”
-the court noted.
The complainant made serious allegations, stating that she was deceived, financially cheated, emotionally harassed, and mistreated in her marriage. She said she married her husband in 2019, first through a registered marriage in the United Kingdom (UK), followed by a ceremonial wedding in Jammu.
She accused her husband and his family of lying about their financial and professional status before marriage.
She further claimed that they exploited her financially by demanding large sums of money, mistreated her during her IVF treatment, and emotionally harassed her, which eventually ruined the marriage. The complainant also alleged that her husband withdrew his consent for the IVF procedure at the last moment, which deeply distressed her.
Additionally, she named her husband’s maternal uncle, saying that he was present at a family gathering in London, where she and her family were allegedly harassed and humiliated. She accused him of making false allegations against her and pressuring her family.
On the other hand, the petitioner, Sumesh Chadha, denied all accusations and said that he had no role in the marital issues. He argued that he did not live with the complainant and was not directly involved in any act of cruelty.
He pointed out that just being present at a family meeting could not be a reason to charge him under IPC 498-A. The petitioner also said that the FIR was filed against him only because he was named as the person responsible for handing over the complainant’s jewelry.
The court observed that the petitioner seemed to have been dragged into the case solely because he was allegedly chosen by the other accused persons to return the wife’s jewelry and other belongings, which were supposedly with her husband and his family in the UK.
The court also pointed out that even in the complainant’s own statements, there was nothing substantial against the petitioner. Instead, he was made an accused only to put pressure on him to convince the complainant’s husband and his family to return her belongings.
The court relied on the case of Payal Sharma vs. State of Punjab and Anr. (2024) and highlighted the issue of people misusing IPC 498-A as a way to threaten others.
It stressed that false allegations against distant relatives in matrimonial disputes should not be encouraged.
The court finally ruled that-
“The continuance of the investigation against the petitioner shall be nothing but an abuse of process of law.”
Because of this, the court canceled the case against the petitioner.
Appearance:
For Petitioner – Advocates Sachin Gupta and Arsha Sharma
For Complainant – Senior Advocate Pranav Kohli with Advocate Radhika Wahi
For UT of J&K – Deputy Advocate General Pawan Dev Singh
CASE TITLE:
Sumesh Chadha vs. UT of J&K and Anr.
[CRM(M) No. 489/2024]
Would You Like Assistance In Drafting A Legal Notice Or Complaint?
CLICK HERE
Click Here to Read Our Reports on CJI Sanjeev Khanna
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
