Rajasthan High Court dismissed a quashing petition filed by a husband, observing that a criminal case could not be quashed only because one of the spouses had obtained a decree of divorce and they were living separately.

The bench of Justice Ashok Kumar Jain observed that it might happen that the spouses were having differences and were living separately, but a matrimonial offence required a solution under law and that included registration of a criminal case.

"A criminal case cannot be quashed only on the ground that one of the spouse has obtained a decree of divorce and now they are living separately," it held.

For context, the petitioner got married in 2014. In November 2018, he filed for divorce, and the divorce decree was granted. Subsequently, in December 2018, a criminal complaint was filed against him by the wife based on which the FIR was registered accusing him under Section 498A, IPC.

It was the case of the petitioner that the allegations in the FIR were vague, and the parties were now living separately where the respondent was also working. Hence, the criminal proceedings were nothing but an abuse of the process of law in the background of the divorce proceedings.

After hearing the contentions, the Court referred to the cases laying down principles for quashing a criminal case, and stated that it was a settled rule that if the allegations in the FIR were vague and no specific instances of criminal conduct were mentioned, there was no purpose to institute or continue a criminal proceedings.

However, after perusing the material on record, while making the aforementioned observations, the Court highlighted that the present FIR contained several allegations of instances of dowry demands, cruelty, etc.

Such allegations were subject matter of trial and could not be considered for quashing the FIR. Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.

Title: A v State of Rajasthan & Anr.

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 336

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