Section 498A IPC: Supreme Court Clarifies Allegations Must Specify Acts of Cruelty.

Section 498A IPC: Supreme Court Clarifies Allegations Must Specify Acts of Cruelty.

Mere general allegations of harassment without specific details would not be sufficient to continue criminal proceedings, says SC The Supreme Court, in a matter concerning alleged matrimonial cruelty, recently said that the term “cruelty” cannot be established without specific instances and the tendency of invoking the provisions, without mentioning any specific detail, weakens the case of the prosecution and casts serious aspersions on the probability of the version of the complainant. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and R Mahadevan observed that the court cannot ignore the missing specifics in the FIR which is the basic premise for invoking the criminal machinery of the State.

The apex court set aside the Allahabad High Court's order dated February 27, 2024. The bench stressed, "In such cases involving allegations of cruelty and harassment, there would normally be a series of offending acts, which would be required to be spelt out by the complainant against perpetrators in specific terms to initiate criminal proceedings against them. Therefore, mere general allegations of harassment without pointing out the specific details would not be sufficient to continue criminal proceedings against any person" Best Divorce lawyer in delhi Provide best advice for family issues/matrimonial cases. Best Family Lawyer in Delhi. Online consultation.