Being mute spectators no ground to prosecute in-laws for cruelty: SC

NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has held that the in-laws of a woman cannot be prosecuted for cruelty or making dowry demands merely because they remained mute spectators to disputes between spouses and did not come to rescue of the daughter-in-law. It said that while such conduct is questionable on moral grounds, it does not automatically amount to criminal culpability.

A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N K Singh said that criminal law cannot be set in motion against every family member of the husband merely on the basis of generalised and omnibus allegations and in absence of specific acts attributed to a person/persons.

"Mere allegations that family members 'supported' the husband, failed to intervene or advised the complainant to adjust in the matrimonial relationship, without anything further, would not ipso facto attract criminal liability. There may indeed be situations where certain relatives remain passive spectators or fail to come to the aid of the complainant; such conduct, though morally questionable, cannot automatically be elevated to the status of criminal culpability unless the surrounding circumstances clearly disclose their active complicity or participation in the alleged offences," the bench said.

The court quashed criminal proceedings against the in-laws in a case where a woman at Guna in Madhya Pradesh had accused her husband and in-laws of dowry harassment, noting that no specific allegations were made against them. Even as it said that the anguish of a woman in a failed marriage cannot be lightly disregarded, it appealed to courts to exercise greater caution and carefully scrutinise allegations while dealing with matrimonial dispute cases.

It pointed out that matrimonial disputes are often accompanied by heightened emotions, strained relationships and deep-seated personal grievances. Given the circumstances, complaints alleging cruelty and harassment frequently tend to implicate not only the spouse but also his entire family, including relatives who may have had little or no active role in matrimonial dispute. What is important in this context is whether there are specific allegations disclosing active participation in acts amounting to cruelty, harassment or unlawful demand for dowry on part of such persons, it held.