The court upheld allegations of dowry-related cruelty under IPC Section 498A against the petitioners.

O R D E R

(Dated this the 25th day of March, 2026)

These Crl.M.Cs are filed by the accused persons in involved in C.C No.496 of 2012 of Judicial First Class Magistrate Court-I, Varkala, arising out of Crime No.621 of 2011 of Varkala Police Station. The offence alleged against the petitioners are under Section 498A r/w Section 34 of IPC .

2. The prosecution case is that the 1^st accused being the husband of the de facto complainant and the other accused person being his relatives, subjected her to cruelty both physically and mentally on the ground of dowry.

3. According to the learned counsel for the petitioner, this is a false case foisted against the petitioners due to matrimonial dispute and therefore, he prayed for quashing all further proceedings against the petitioners.

4. The petition was strongly opposed by the learned counsel for the 2^nd respondent/de facto complainant as well as by the learned Public Prosecutor.

5. On a perusal of the FI statement, it can be seen that there are several allegations against the petitioners to the effect that they subjected her to cruelty on the ground of dowry. One of the specific allegations is that, on the 3rd day of marriage, the petitioners demanded her to bring a car also in addition to the dowry already given.

6. Therefore, the allegations levelled against the petitioners prima facie makes out the offence punishable under Section 498A IPC and as such, the prayer for quashing the proceedings against the petitioners is liable to be rejected.

In the result, these Crl.M.Cs are dismissed.