S. RAVINDRA BHAT, J.

( 1 ) THE petitioners have challenged an order on charge, made by the learned Chief Metropolitan Magistrate ("the trial Court") on 17. 9. 12005. They were charged with committing offences punishable under Section 498-A/406, read with Section 34, Indian Penal Code (hereafter called as "the IPC" ).

( 2 ) THE first petitioner (hereafter "the husband") is the son of petitioners no. 2 and 3 and the brother of the fourth Petitioner. The husband got married to the informant, (hereafter variously "the wife" and "the complainant") Ms. Juhi Modi, on 3. 7. 1998. According to the first information report, (FIR) lodged by the informant wife with the police on 11. 5. 2000, the marriage was preceeded by her parents' gifting valuables to the petitioners. When she joined the matrimonial home, the parents in law namely petitioners No. 2 and 3 expressed disappointment with the marriage arrangements and stated that their expectations were unfulfilled. It was alleged that they wanted a Mercedes car, but since they were unable to maintain it, an Opel car and Rs. 16 lakhs were to be paid. It was also alleged that the complainant's father was called to the matrimonial home in July and Augnst, 1998 and told in no uncertain terms that Rs. 1. 5 crores ought to have been given to the petitioners. As the complainant's parents could not fulfill these demands, it was alleged that the accused proceeded to hurt, humiliate and insult the respondent.

( 3 ) IT was also alleged that the husband kept taunting her, alleging that she was ugly; the accused, besides, assigned her menial jobs such as washing clothes, utensils etc. They also criticized her for not doing those jobs properly. The FIR cited several instances where acts of cruelty were allegedly perpetrated on the informant. It was alleged that the complainant asked leave to visit her parents but the petitioners refused to do so. She stated that once her husband turned her out of the house early in the morning at 3. 00 a. m. without any cause. The complainant alleged as follows:

"on 30. 9. 98 my father came to meet me at New Friends Colony and brought Rs. 1,50,000/- and gave it to Suresh Kumar and Sumitra Dev. When he paid this money, they started shouting "itne se paise se kya hoga. Apne aap ko Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi ka nephew kehte ho, exporter ho, beshumar paisa hai to humko 1. 5 crorers kyon nahin dete. " at this point my father said he will not pay any another penny and they could do what they wanted and he left the house. On 5. 10. 98 I was sent to my parents house. On 7. 10. 98 Neeraj took me back to his house, my parents sent all the things traditionally given on Karva Chauth. On the way back he spoke very rudely to me and told me that he had made a big mistake by marrying me. On 8. 10. 98 on the day of Karva Chauth neeraj's elder sister Poonam came from Noida to spend the day. Sumitra devi told me that my parents should have sent a silver lota and though my father is a rich exporter he has sent such small things. In the evening we all did pooja together. The Suresh Kumar, Sumitra Devi, Poonam and sonika called me to the front room of the house, shut the door and started shouting at me. "itni ghatia shadi hamne baniyon mein nahin dekh. Tere ma-baap ne koi lena-dena nahin kiya. Koi reeti riwaz nahin poore kiye. Baniyon mein to paison ka hena-dena hota hee ha. Hamne kai bar tere baap se paisa manga hai aur us Modi ne saaf saaf mana kar diya ha. Hamne bhi saaf saaf kehna parega, apne ma-baap se kaho 51 lac rupay aur 51 ginni lakar Diwali se pehle hame dekar jayen. Hamare liye turn kisi kam ki nahin ho, mere ladke ke liye bahut ladkiyan hain. " sumitra Devi pulled my hair and shouted "raise nahin lakar denge paisa. Mein dekhti hoon. Koi baap ladki to gahr nahin baitha sakta. " then Sonika slapped me. At that moment I felt afraid for my life. Then poonam told me to phone my parents and tell them to come and take me from there. I phoned my father and asked him to come immediate