'Marriage not legal': Kerala HC quashes criminal case against woman’s partner for cruelty

Kochi, Nov 1 The Kerala High Court has quashed a criminal case against a man under the IPC's Section 498A (cruelty against married woman by husband or relatives) by his "wife", holding that in the absence of records proving legal marriage between the parties, there can be no prosecution for cruelty against him or his relatives.

The case pertains to a marriage between the petitioner (husband) and the de facto complainant (wife), which was declared null and void by a family court in 2013 after finding that the wife's prior marriage was subsisting and had not been dissolved.

The high court said that since the marriage has been declared null and void, then there is "no legal marriage in the eye of the law".

"Thus it is emphatically clear that when there is no legal marriage, the woman's partner did not attain the status of her husband and an offence under Section 498A of IPC would get attracted only against her husband or relative/relatives of her husband. Therefore, in the absence of a legal marriage as borne out from the records, no offence under Section 498A of IPC would get attracted against the partner of a woman or against the partner's relatives since the partner without a legal marriage would not occupy the status of husband," it held.

The complainant alleged that the petitioner subjected her to cruelty during their stay at the matrimonial house after marriage which was solemnised on November 2, 2009. The counsel for the man pointed out that there was no legal marriage subsisting between the parties for the prosecution of cruelty under Section 498A.

Based on this, the Court observed that an essential ingredient to attract an offence under Section 498A of the IPC is that cruelty must be committed by the husband or relatives of the husband.

"Here the petitioner/1st accused never stood on the status of a husband at any point of time, since the marriage was null and void from the very beginning and the same was declared as such, subsequently. Therefore, the prosecution case to the effect that the petitioner committed an offence under Section 498A read with 34 of IPC would not stand and accordingly, this matter would require quashment. As the result, this petition stands allowed," the court ruled, quashing the criminal case and proceedings against the man.

Source: IANS