The Delhi High Court has held that allegations of physical assault, verbal abuse, and obscene or inappropriate conduct within a household at the interim stage fall within the broad definition of domestic violence under the PWDV Act 2005.
The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow Bench quashed criminal proceedings against Raghvendra Narain Khanna and others over allegations of dowry demand and assault. The court termed prosecution after divorce, cruelty by wife, “abuse of process of law.”
The Supreme Court of India upheld life imprisonment of a Rajasthan man for burning his wife over a domestic dispute. Justices Sanjay Karol and N. K. Singh highlighted patriarchy and persistent domestic violence reflecting deep-rooted social issues.
The Supreme Court set aside a dowry-harassment FIR against a woman’s parents-in-law and sister-in-law in Uttar Pradesh, ruling that vague matrimonial allegations should not trigger criminal proceedings. It stressed that criminal law must not serve as personal vendetta.
The Gujarat High Court set aside the man’s conviction for cruelty and abetment, stating that a single incident of slapping his wife for staying at her parental home without informing was not cruelty while acquitting him in law.
The Supreme Court set aside a bail order issued by Allahabad High Court in a dowry death case, calling it one of the most shocking and disappointing orders and saying that it led to a “travesty of justice.”
The Delhi High Court held a wife cannot seek residence under the DV Act if she moved to housing and is not roofless. Court said the law protects against dispossession, not reinstatement to a home abandoned by choice.
The Bombay High Court observed that many women facing severe domestic violence continue staying in harmful marriages due to social stigma and orthodox pressures, noting the sad reality that victims often remain despite grave threats to their lives.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has held that forced unnatural sex by a husband amounts to cruelty under Section 498A IPC, but it cannot be treated as rape under Section 376 or unnatural offence under Section 377 IPC.
Karnataka High Court has quashed a cruelty case against a woman, ruling that she cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A IPC. The Court clarified that a neighbour or outsider cannot be held liable for matrimonial cruelty allegations.
