Overview
- Karnataka High Court quashed proceedings against neighbour Asha G, holding that strangers are not ‘relatives’ under Section 498A and citing the Supreme Court’s 2024 Ramesh Kannojia ruling.
- Another Karnataka order set aside a 498A case against Abuzar Ahmed and his family after finding only minor marital grievances, faulting police for skipping the Lalita Kumari preliminary inquiry and criticizing a Look-Out Circular.
- Delhi High Court threw out a cruelty and breach of trust FIR as vague and generic, noting lack of specific incidents, significant delay, and no entrustment for Section 406.
- Judges reiterated that Section 498A targets grave cruelty tied to serious harm or dowry demands and should not be used to criminalize ordinary marital discord or rope in extended lists of in-laws.
- Madhya Pradesh High Court held that forced unnatural sex by a husband constitutes cruelty under Section 498A, while quashing rape and Section 377 charges due to the marital exception and lack of medical evidence.