Kerala HC quashes criminal case against partner due to lack of legal marriage
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Kochi: The Kerala High Court has dismissed a criminal case against a man accused of cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), stating that there was no legal marriage between him and the woman involved.
The case stemmed from a marriage that a family court declared null and void in 2013, after determining that the woman’s previous marriage had not been dissolved. The court emphasized that without a valid marriage, the man could not be considered her husband, and therefore, could not be prosecuted for cruelty.
The high court said that since the marriage has been declared null and void, then there is "no legal marriage in the eye of the law", which means that the charges under Section 498A, which addresses cruelty by a husband or his relatives, could not be applied.
"Thus it is emphatically clear that when there is no legal marriage, the woman's partner did not attain the status of her husband and an offence under Section 498A of IPC would get attracted only against her husband or relative/relatives of her husband. Therefore, in the absence of a legal marriage as borne out from the records, no offence under Section 498A of IPC would get attracted against the partner of a woman or against the partner's relatives since the partner without a legal marriage would not occupy the status of husband," it held.
The woman had alleged that the man mistreated her during their time together at what she described as their matrimonial home following their marriage in November 2009. However, the man’s legal counsel pointed out that their marriage was not valid for the purposes of this law.
In light of this, the Court noted that a key requirement for establishing an offence under Section 498A of the IPC is that the cruelty must be inflicted by the husband or his relatives. Since the marriage was null and void from the start, the allegations of cruelty could not stand. Consequently, the court quashed the criminal case and all related proceedings against the man.
"Here the petitioner/1st accused never stood on the status of a husband at any point of time, since the marriage was null and void from the very beginning and the same was declared as such, subsequently. Therefore, the prosecution case to the effect that the petitioner committed an offence under Section 498A read with 34 of IPC would not stand and accordingly, this matter would require quashment. As the result, this petition stands allowed," the court ruled, effectively dismissing the criminal case and proceedings against the man.
(IANS with edits)