Vague allegations in a domestic abuse case do not meet the legal threshold for prosecuting relatives under IPC Section 498A, requiring specific instances of cruelty.

JUDGMENT :

Ajoy Kumar Mukherjee, J.

1. Petitioners are the brothers in law and sister in law of the defacto complainant/opposite party no.2, who prayed for quashing of proceeding being GR case no. 2204 of 2017 arising out of Bagda Police Station case no.409/2017 under section 498A/34 of the Indian Penal Code presently pending before learned ACJM, Bongaon, North 24 Parganas.

2. The Opposite party no.2/victim filed a petition of complaint before the court below under section 156(3) of the Cr.P.C. against the petitioners and after receiving the said complaint learned Court below directed the police to start investigation and thereafter police submitted charge sheet against six accused persons under section 498A/34 of IPC and during pendency of the proceeding father in law and one brother in law died and accordingly the name of the petitioner no.1 & 3 were expunged from the cause title of the instant application.

3. The allegation levelled in the petition of complaint which was subsequently treated as FIR interalia states that the marriage of the complainant was solemnised with one Nilratan Sarkar about 19 years back and due to said wedlock two male children were born. While the husband is stated to have treated the complainant with care and affection during his lifetime but it is alleged that the other family members/petitioners subjected her to physical and mental cruelty. The petitioners went to the extent of instigating her to commit suicide. On 26.04.2017 while her husband was engaged in cultivation work in the field, the accused persons assaulted and drove her from the matrimonial house along with her minor younger child and thereafter the accused persons/petitioners forced her husband to start a case against her and as a result, her husband lodged a case being Bagda Police Station case no. 313/2017 under section 365/366/498A/34 of the Indian Penal Code. The complainant also stated in her complaint that on 05.05.2017, her husband proposed her that they would reside separately. The complainant came back to her matrimonial home and stated everything to the accused persons but the accused persons/petitioners abated her husband to commit suicide and as a result her husband committed suicide on 06.05.2017

4. Being aggrieved by the aforesaid proceeding Mr. Samanta learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners submits that the complainant left her matrimonial house with the child without informing her husband and for which her husband lodged aforesaid complaint before the police station being Bagda police case no. 313/2017 Under section 365/366/498/34 IPC . However, police submitted final report in the said case stating ‘mistake of fact’. Thereafter the husband of the defacto complainant committed suicide on 06.05.2017 and one of the brother of the deceased after knowing the contents of the suicide note lodged complaint against the present complainant and six others being Bagda Police station case no. 333/2017 dated 07.05.2017 under section 306 . The instant complaint is the counterblast of the said complaint lodged on behalf of the petitioners. Learned counsel for the petitioner further argued that during 18/19 years of marriage , the complainant/wife never made any allegation against the present petitioner who infact resided separately. Accordingly i