Bombay High Court Declines To Quash FIR Lodged By Wife Against Husband For Outraging Her Modesty

The Bombay High Court recently refused to quash a First Information Report (FIR) lodged against a man by his estranged wife, for outraging her modesty. A division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Rajesh Patil refused to quash a FIR lodged with the Kasturba Sub Police Station in Malvani, Mumbai, under sections 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (causing voluntarily hurt) lodged against the husband by his wife."We do not find that we can conduct a mini trial in this proceeding to conclude or draw an impression or a conclusion that the contents of the FIR are totally false and the FIR deserves to be quashed. Thus, the petition stands dismissed," the judges said in the order passed on January 7.According to the petition filed by the husband, it was contended that the couple lives in the same house with their 10 year old son. But due to the marital disputes between them, the wife along with her child sleeps in the bedroom and the husband in the living room. It was alleged by the wife, who works in an entertainment company, in her FIR lodged that on February 26, 2024, the husband came to her bedroom and forcibly opened it and had an argument with her, for which she urged the police to invoke section 506 against him. On the subsequent day, the husband forcibly entered the bedroom and used the toilet without the wife's permission. When she questioned him, they had an argument and amid this when she tried to video record the same, he snatched her phone and touched her breast, which the wife said was without her permission and thus, she felt insulted. Thereafter, they both went near the kitchen and the husband assaulted her. Accordingly, the wife called the police and lodged the instant FIR.The husband contended that the FIR against him was 'motivated' and was an outcome of their marital discord and nothing else. He contended that the wife has created a false story and given false statements to the police, which has filed a chargesheet in the court, based on her false statement. He therefore, sought to quash the FIR.The judges, however, were not convinced and dismissed the plea. Case Title: Sanket More vs State of Maharashtra (Writ Petition 2137 of 2024)Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Bom) 14Appearance:Advocate Prateek Dutta appeared for the Petitioner. Additional Public Prosecutor Supriya Kak represented the State. Click Here To Read/Download Order

Bombay High Court Declines To Quash FIR Lodged By Wife Against Husband For Outraging Her Modesty

Narsi Benwal

Tags