The main legal point established in the judgment is that the place where the wife takes shelter after leaving the matrimonial home due to acts of cruelty by the husband or his relatives would also have jurisdiction to entertain a complaint under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.

ORDER

Leave granted.

1. Heard learned counsel for the parties.

2. This appeal has been filed against the judgment and order dated 10.08.2018 passed by the High Court of Himachal Pradesh, Shimla by which High Court has allowed the Cr.M.M.O. No.12 of 2015 filed by the respondents quashing the First Information Report on the ground that police at Nalagarh had no jurisdiction to enquire into the contents of first information report and as such there is no occasion for the High Court to go into the correctness of the allegation as well as sustainability of charge. In paragraph 44 of the judgment following has been observed by the High Court:

"44. In the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, as has been discussed above, this Court has arrived at a conclusion that Police at Nalagarh has/had no jurisdiction to enquire into the contents of FIR and as such there is no occasion for this Court to go into the correctness of the allegation as well as sustainability of charge, if any, framed against the petitioners. As has been noticed hereinabove, inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C, is to be exercised sparingly, carefully or with caution and only when such exercise is justified by the tests specifically laid down under Section 482 Cr.P.C. itself. True, it is, that it should be exercised ex debito justitiae to do real and substantial justice. Judgment referred to hereinabove nowhere suggests that power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. cannot be exercised by the Court at all, rather exercise of it would depend upon the facts of the case before it. Hon'ble Apex Court in the aforesaid judgment has held that inherent power should not be exercised to stifle a legitimate prosecution. But, what is legitimate prosecution depends upon facts of the particular case. In the case at hand, as has been, elaborately discussed hereinabove clearly suggests that Police at Nalagarh has/had no authority/jurisdiction to investigate into allegations contained in FIR, which admittedly took place at Jallandhar and as such Courts at Nalagarh have/had no jurisdiction to continue with the proceedings, which are apparently based upon the investigation carried out by police at Nalagarh and as such same cannot be allowed to sustain. Since police at Nalagarh had no jurisdiction, as has/had been held hereinabove, proceedings if any pending before Courts at Nalagarh cannot be allowed to sustain."

3. Learned counsel for the appellant contends that the present case is fully covered by the three-Judge Bench Judgment of this Court in Rupali Devi Vs. State of Uttar Pradesh & Ors., 2019 (6) SCALE 96 . This Court was dealing with a similar question pertaining to first information report under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code. This Court in paragraphs 14, 15 and 16 laid down following:

"14. "Cruelty" which is the crux of the offence under Section 498A IPC is defined in Black's Law Dictionary to mean "The intentional and malicious infliction of mental or physical suffering on a living creature, esp. a human; abusive treatment; outrage (Abuse, inhuman treatment, indignity)". Cruelty can be both physical or mental cruelty. The impact on the mental health of the wife by overt acts on the part of the husband or his relatives; the mental stress and trauma of being driven away from the matrimonial home and her helplessness to go back to the same home for fear of being ill treated are aspects that cannot be ignored while understanding the meaning of the expression "cruelty" appearing in Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. The emotional distress or psychological effect on the wife, if not the physical injury, is bound to continue to traumatize the wife even after she leaves the matrimonial home and takes shelter at the parental home. Even if the acts of physical cruelty committed in the matrimonial house may have ceased and such acts do not occur at the parental home, there can be no doubt that the mental trauma and the psychological distress cause by the acts of the husband includ