IMPORTANT POINT
Dowry offence – One instance unless portentous, in absence of any material evidence of interference and involvement in marital life of complainant, may not be sufficient to implicate the person as having committed cruelty under Section 498A of IPC.

ORDER :

1. Heard the learned counsel for the parties.

2. Appellant No. 1-Mahalakshmi is the sister of accused no. 1-Sarvan Kumar, former husband of informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran. Appellant Nos. 2 and 3, namely, Maharani T.S. and Ranjanavadhan, respectively, are cousins of accused no. 1-Sarvan Kumar. Appellant no. 4-Archana is the wife of appellant no. 3-Ranjanavadhan.

3. Accused no. 1-Sarvan Kumar and the informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran got married on 29.06.2015. Rekha Bhaskaran made a written complaint, pursuant to which First Information Report¹ [For short “FIR”] No. 92 of 2016 dated 26.11.2016, was registered at Police Station-Halasurgate Women, District-Bangalore City, Karnataka for the offence punishable under Sections 498A and 506 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860² [For short “IPC”] and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. After investigation, a charge sheet dated 20.07.2017 was filed.

4. Thereupon, the appellants, along with accused no. 1-Sarvan Kumar, his father, accused no. 2-Surendra Prasad, and his mother, accused no. 3-Malathi were summoned to appear before the trial court.

5. The appellants had filed a petition under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Code, 1973³ [For short “the Code”] to quash the charge sheet dated 20.07.2017. The said petition was dismissed by the impugned judgment dated 21.03.2019.

6. It is an accepted position that appellant no. 1-Mahalakshmi, sister of accused no. 1-Sarvan Kumar, got married on 02.05.2013. After marriage, she has been residing in Canada.

7. We have perused the complaint, as well as the charge sheet. In the complaint, the informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran had alleged that in February 2016, appellant no. 1-Mahalakshmi commented on her physical appearance and on 20.09.2016, Mahalakshmi had thrown the personal belongings of Rekha Bhaskaran in the dustbin. In the charge sheet, however, the only allegation that was found to be substantiated was the second allegation, that is, the appellant no. 1-Mahalakshmi had thrown some of the personal belongings of the informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran on the ground, as they were not kept at the proper place. Further, appellant no. 1-Mahalakshmi had cursed the informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran in foul words.

8. Concerning appellant nos. 2, 3 and 4, namely, Maharani T.S. and Ranjanavadhan and Archana, respectively, the charge sheet alleges that they were present in the Panchayat, which was called to resolve the differences inter se the parties.

9. It is the contention of appellant no. 1-Mahalakshmi that the assertions made in the complaint are false and incorrect. However, it is accepted that she was living and working in Canada. Further, sometime in March 2016, she visited India to attend her friend’s wedding in Mysore and stayed there for nearly twenty days. Again, in September 2016, she had remained in India for almost 12 days when her father, accused no. 2-Surendra Prasad, was operated and hospitalized under critical care for two to three weeks.

10. About appellant nos. 2, 3 and 4, namely, Maharani T.S. and Ranjanavadhan and Archana, respectively, it is also an accepted position that they were residing separately. In fact, appellant no. 2-Maharani T.S., is a permanent resident of Secunderabad, Telangana. After marriage, accused no. 1-Sarvan Kumar and the informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran were residing at Bengaluru, Karnataka.

11. We have been informed that a decree of divorce dated 17.11.2022 has been passed, dissolving the marriage. The informant/respondent no. 2-Rekha Bhaskaran, has filed an appeal challenging the decree.

12. Having considered the charge sheet filed, we are of the view that the assertions made therein are very vague and general. [See: Kahkashan Kausar @ Sonam and Others vs. State of Bihar and Others, (2022) 6 SCC 599, K. Subba Rao vs. State of Telangana, (2018) 14 SCC 452, Rajesh Sharma vs. State of Uttar Pradesh, (2018) 10 SCC 472, Arnesh Kumar vs. S