Delhi High Court Quashes Dowry Harassment FIR Filed After Husband's Suicide Within 40 Days Of Marriage

The Delhi High Court has quashed a dowry harassment and cruelty FIR registered by a woman against her in-laws, following the suicide of her husband barely 40 days after their marriage.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna observed that it was a case of vague allegations and abuse of power, and it will not be in the interest of justice to let the criminal proceedings continue.

The sister in law, father in law and mother in law filed the petition seeking quashing of the chargesheet filed in the FIR registered by the woman in 2016 for the offences under Section 498A, 406 and 34 of Indian Penal Code, 1860.

The couple got married in March 2016 and the in laws claimed that soon thereafter, some differences arose between the couple and the husband started living in a depressed, disturbed and frustrated state. It was also stated that the woman's family not only pressurised the husband but also threatened him to live with her under all circumstances.

As per the in laws, they were terrorized by the woman's parents, who threatened to implicate their entire family in a false and frivolous case of dowry and domestic violence.

It was stated that the husband, being mentally and physically harassed by the unwarranted acts and persistent threats extended by the wife and her parents to him, committed suicide on April 13, 2016, barely after 40 days of their marriage.

It was contended that on the instance of her parents, the woman left the matrimonial home immediately after the cremation. The father of the deceased then filed a complaint to the police to conduct a fair investigation to unravel the truth behind the suicide. After two months, as a counterblast, the woman filed a complaint in CWC cell against the petitioners alleging mental torture on account of demand of dowry and hatching a conspiracy and abetting her deceased husband to commit suicide and spoiling her personal life.

Allowing the plea, the Court said that it was an unfortunate case where the marriage did not survive even for 40 days and the husband committed suicide, resulting in sour relations followed by ugly litigation.

It added that the woman's allegations of alleged demand attributable to the sister in law were clearly vague and omnibus, which did not inspire any truth. Rather, it is an unsuccessful attempt to somehow rope in the sister-in-law, without any basis, it said.

On allegations against the father in law, the Court said that the woman made bald allegations of demanding cash, four wheelers and expensive ornaments only for making the complaint under Section 498A of IPC.

“…the allegations made in the Complaint of dowry harassment, are vague which are not borne out from the record and essentially not supported by any cogent evidence. The present Complaint was filed under Section 498A IPC is clearly, a case of the abuse of process of law and merits quashing in the interest of justice,” the Court said.

Title: X & Ors v. State & Anr

Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1275

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