New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court has quashed a dowry harassment complaint filed by a woman against her husband’s relatives, saying they were unnecessarily roped in and allowing the case to proceed against them would amount to a “vexatious trial”.

Referring to the apex court rulings in such cases, a bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Prashant Kumar Mishra said the practice of involving the relatives of the husband in dowry cases had been deprecated.

Admittedly, the marriage between the couple, the court noted, was dissolved by a decree of divorce passed in May 2012 and the complaint was filed after three years of the divorce.

“… we have no hesitation in holding that the present appellants have unnecessarily been roped in the complaint without there being any specific allegation against them for any incident which had taken place between the husband and the wife during subsistence of marriage and the period when they stayed together at Kota,” it said.

The top court delivered its verdict on April 16 on an appeal against an order of the Allahabad High Court.

The high court had disposed of the appellants plea seeking quashing of a trial court order summoning them in a complaint case filed by the woman who had alleged harassment.

In its verdict, the apex court said the complaint was largely devoted to the alleged ill-treatment committed by the husband and the only reference to the five appellants was made regarding an incident of August 2015.

The bench said by that time, the ex-parte decree of divorce was already passed.

“…allowing the trial to proceed against the appellants shall amount to vexatious trial only for the reason that they are relatives of the husband,” it said, while quashing the complaint case against them.

The bench noted the marriage was solemnised in June 2010 after which the couple lived in Kota for a brief period.

It said the woman left the matrimonial home in October 2010 and started living with her parents.

The appellants told the bench that efforts made by the husband to bring her back to resume matrimonial life was not successful after which he filed a divorce petition in a family court in Kota.

They said the woman failed to appear before the family court despite receiving notice after which an ex-parte divorce decree was passed in May 2012.

The bench noted that around three years after the divorce decree was passed, the woman moved an application before a magisterial court seeking registration of a criminal case alleging that her in-laws came to her house in August 2015 and demanded dowry by threatening and ill-treating her.

It said the application was treated as a complaint case and the magistrate issued summons against the appellants for the alleged offence of subjecting a married woman to cruelty under the Indian Penal Code.

The bench said there was no reason or justification as to why the appellants would try for a reconciliation by visiting the complainant’s house on August 16, 2015 when the divorce had already taken place in May 2012.

“Even if such an incident has happened on August 16, 2015, the fact remains that on the said date the relationship of husband and wife has already come to an end as such the appellants being relatives of the husband cannot be proceeded for offence under section 498A IPC and section 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961,” the bench said. PTI ABA ABA AMK AMK