The Supreme Court has said that in a spoiled marital relationship, a husband exercising financial dominance over his estranged wife is not an act of cruelty. The Supreme Court also emphasized that a criminal trial cannot be used as a medium of revenge and personal vendetta.
Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice R. Mahadevan’s bench made this observation while quashing a criminal case filed by a man’s estranged wife against her husband alleging cruelty and dowry harassment.
Setting aside the judgment of the Telangana High Court which had refused to quash the FIR, Justice Nagarathna said, ‘The monetary and financial dominance of the accused-appellant, as alleged by respondent-petitioner no. 2, cannot be seen as a case of cruelty, especially when it has not caused any tangible mental or physical harm.’
He said, ‘This situation is a mirror of Indian society, where men in households often try to dominate and control the financial affairs of women, but a criminal trial cannot be used as a means of revenge or personal vendetta.’
Justice Nagarathna, who wrote the judgment on behalf of the bench, also refused to consider the man’s demand for details of expenditure of money sent to his estranged wife as an act of cruelty. The bench said, ‘Courts should be extremely cautious and careful while dealing with complaints and should do so keeping in mind the practical realities in matrimonial cases, where the allegations have to be investigated with great care and judicious approach, so as to prevent abuse of the process of law.’
This decision of December 19 came on the appeal that the husband had filed against the High Court’s order dated April 27, 2023, in which it had refused to quash the FIR registered against him and his family members.
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