No dowry case can be filed after divorce, says Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has held that the prosecution of a husband and his family members under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act was not sustainable when the complaint is filed by the wife long after their divorce.

Giving this ruling, a bench of Justices S.A. Bobde and L. Nageswara Rao concurred with the contention of the accused that prosecution under Section 498A IPC was clearly not tenable in view of the case of the complainant herself that there had been a divorce almost four years before filing of the FIR.

In this case, the wife filed an FIR against her husband, Mohammad Miyan, and his relatives alleging offences under Sections 498A, 323, 325, 504 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961. She herself stated in the complaint that they had got divorced almost four years before the filing of the FIR. As both the trial court and high court had refused to discharge the accused, they approach-ed the Supreme Court.

Quashing the proceedings, the bench said: “In view of her own averment that she was divorced four years ago, we are of the view that the prosecution is not sustainable under Section 498A IPC and Section 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. Section 498A opens with the words ‘whoever being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman...’ Therefore, where the complainant approaches with a case that there had been a divorce four years before the filing of the FIR, Section 498A IPC would not be attracted. We consider it appropriate to quash the prosecution against all the accused.”