Aarohi Girish Dhumale
The Allahabad High Court, on 11th September, 2024, held that the husband’s friend cannot be prosecuted under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860. (IPC)
Justice Anish Kumar Gupta heard the case which was filed by a woman who wanted the proceedings being conducted against her under Section 498A of IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act to be quashed. These proceedings were initiated by the wife of her male friend, accusing her of instigating her husband to file for divorce. The Applicant argued that she is merely the man’s friend since a long time, and has no familial relations with him.
The wife had filed a case against the applicant under Sections 498-A, 506, 120-B of the IPC and 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.
No evidence of harassment for dowry, any conduct to instigate suicide, cause grave harm, or endanger the woman’s life or well-being by the applicant was found by the Court. The Court observed that there were no dowry-related accusations levelled against the applicant, nor any suggestion that she benefited from dowry in any form.
The Court observed that there was no evidence of the applicant interfering in the couple’s marital relationship and the wife had maliciously prosecuted her merely due her suspicion of an illicit relationship between her husband and the applicant.
The High Court quashed both the charge sheets and the proceedings by saying that it was merely a case of malicious prosecution by the wife.
Case Name: Smt. Neha Tripathi @ Neha v. State Of U.P. And 2 Others
Case Number: Application U/S 482 No. – 9112 of 2019
Bench: Justice Anish Kumar Gupta