IN THE HIGH COURT OF MADHYA PRADESH AT GWALIOR BEFORE HON'BLE SHRI JUSTICE MILIND RAMESH PHADKE

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ON THE 18 OF FEBRUARY, 2026 MISC. CRIMINAL CASE No. 14986 of 2024 SMT USHA MISHRA AND ANR.

Versus THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS Appearance:

Shri Keshav Pathak - Advocate for the petitioners.

Shri Mohit Shivhare - Public Prosecutor for the respondent/State.

ORDER This petition under Section 482 of Cr.P.C. has been filed by the petitioners seeking quashment of FIR bearing crime No.104/2024 registered at Police Station Bhitarwar District Gwalior for offence punishable under Section 498-A of IPC and all consequential proceedings arising therefrom.

2. As per prosecution case, complainant, Pooja, wife of Neeraj Mishra, aged 35 years, resident near the Government Hospital, Mohna, presently residing at her parental home in village Bijakpur, Police Station Bhitarwar, appeared at the police station along with her father, Balkrishna Sharma, and orally reported that her marriage was solemnized on 28/04/2017 with Neeraj Mishra, son of Harkishore alias Omi Mishra, resident of Mohna, according to Hindu rites and customs. She stated that for about one year after the marriage she was treated well by her husband and in-laws; however, thereafter, her mother-in-law Usha Mishra and father-in-law Harkishore Mishra began demanding dowry and repeatedly pressured her to bring Rs.1,00,000/- from her parental home, threatening that she should leave the matrimonial house if she failed to do so. She further alleged that her husband, Neeraj Mishra, under the influence of alcohol, assaulted her on several occasions and asked her to return to her parental home. She also reported that on 12/06/2022, her brothers-in-law, Sai Mishra and Kuldeep Mishra, physically assaulted her at her matrimonial home, and all the family members collectively declared that she would not be allowed to stay there and should go back to her parental house; since then, she has been residing at her parental home in Bijakpur. She further stated that her in-laws have neither come to take her back nor maintained any contact with her, and her son, Krishna, remains at her matrimonial home. She alleged that her in-laws subjected her to mental and physical cruelty and ultimately drove her out of the matrimonial house. On the basis of aforesaid allegations, the present FIR has been lodged.

3. It is submitted by learned counsel for the petitioners that that the present petitioners, who are merely the parents-in-law of the complainant, have been falsely and maliciously implicated in the present matter. The entire prosecution case, insofar as it concerns the petitoners, rests solely upon vague, omnibus, and generalized allegations which do not disclose the essential ingredients of the offence alleged under Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code. The complaint lodged by respondent No. 2, Smt. Pooja Mishra, on 20-03-2024 at Police Station Bhitarwar, states that her marriage was solemnized on 28-04-2017 with Neeraj Mishra, son of the present petitioners. Significantly, the complainant herself admits that for a period of one year after the marriage she was treated well by her husband and in-laws. Despite such admission, she has made a bald and generalized allegation that the petitioners demanded a sum of Rs.1,00,000/- as dowry. The complaint is conspicuously silent as to the date, time, place, or specific circumstances under which any such demand was allegedly made. There is no mention of any particular overt act attributable individually to either petitioner. The allegation is thus inherently vague, non-specific, and incapable of sustaining a criminal prosecution.

4. It is further submitted that marital discord had arisen between the husband and wife, and apprehending that false allegations might be levelled against them, the petitioners an elderly couple aged approximately 65 and 70 years who are living separately from their son Neeraj Mishra, the complainant, and their other two sons, had publicly