Section 498A IPC — Relatives Without Specific Acts · 12 June 2026
S. Sathish Kumar v. State of Tamil Nadu: Madras High Court Quashes Section 498A Case Against Husband's Relatives, Not the Husband
High Court of Judicature at Madras (Madurai Bench) · 2026 LiveLaw (Mad) 253; Crl.O.P.(MD) No. 2451 of 2024
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The parties married in June 2015 and have a son born in 2016. The prosecution alleged that the husband ill-treated and assaulted his wife, developed intimacy with another woman and seized her phone and assaulted her when she refused to give the password, and that his relatives supported him in this conduct. The husband and his relatives sought to quash the case pending before the Judicial Magistrate, Bodinayakkanur, arguing that ordinary marital friction had been given a criminal colour and that the relatives had been named merely for being relatives, with no specific act, date or particulars of cruelty. The State argued that the final report had been filed and the allegations against the husband were specific.
Justice Victoria Gowri held that the allegations against the husband, of cruelty, assault and abuse within the marriage, were matters to be proved at trial. As to the relatives, however, the final report disclosed no clear individual overt act, no specific unlawful demand and no wilful act meeting the meaning of cruelty under Section 498A, and the prosecution could not continue merely because it was argued that they caused mental cruelty. The Court observed that criminal process is a shield for the aggrieved and not a sword for vengeance, while courts must also ensure the wife's voice is not silenced. It partly allowed the petition, quashing the case against the relatives only; the prosecution of the husband continues.
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