Hosting husband’s relatives, caring for them not cruelty to wife, rules Calcutta High Court

“Bringing family members of the husband to his own house or to taking care of their kid’s education and treatment of the relatives of the husband or petty quarrels cannot be equated with the explanation made Section 498A IPC regarding cruelty or any wilful conduct, which can drive the woman to commit suicide, the June 8 order noted.

Justice Chaitali Chatterjee Das heard a matrimonial dispute, and examined Section 498A.

‘Wife’s misbehaviour against husband’

• The petitioner (husband) was married to the opposite party (no. 2) in 2002, in an arranged marriage, and they were blessed with a male child who is more than 12 years old.
• After marriage, both parties started residing at Belghoria and Salt Lake, and after a few days, the petitioner purchased a flat at Samabeta.
• The husband, allegedly, for the last few years, has been subjected to ill behaviour, physical assault, and mental torture at the behest of his wife.
• Time and again, the husband requested her to refrain from such misbehaviour or ill treatment to him in the presence of their son, but it did not help the case.
• Having no other alternative, the husband left the house around November 2021 and moved to New Town, Kolkata.
• He alleged that his wife harassed him over calls, threatened with a false criminal case against him and demanded money.
• He further alleged that she wrote to his employer to get details of her salary with the intention of harassing and defaming him at the workplace.
• In March 2022, he received a notice under Section 41A CrPC, in connection with a complaint filed by his wife alleging cruelty and harassment.
• Subsequently, a chargesheet was filed against him under Section 498A IPC, and the magistrate took cognisance on June 22, 2022.

‘Husband failed to pay maintenance’

• Advocates Anirban Dutta and Dyutiman Paul representing the husband contended that the case was filed as a counterblast, relying on documents including a rental agreement and complaints regarding denial of his access to the matrimonial home.
• The counsel argued that both the parties were well educated and aware of their rights, and a divorce suit between them is already pending and sought quashing of the criminal proceedings.
• Advocates Satyam Mukherjee and Purendu Sekhar Ghosh representing the wife submitted that the complaint was lodged on March 3, 2022, after the husband tortured her in front of her son on March 1, 2022.
• It was contended that the petitioner frequently entered the flat, abused her in the presence of their son, and failed to provide maintenance; that’s why she had sought details of his income from his employer.
• It was further submitted that a charge sheet had been filed after investigation, disclosing a prima facie case against the husband.

‘Case against husband to continue’

The Calcutta High Court noted that the husband and wife had been married for about 10 years and were parents to a 10-year-old son; the wife, a school teacher, alleged that since 2018 she had been subjected to harassment.

The court also considered that the wife specifically alleged against the husband of bringing a lot of his family members to their flat for their treatment and for their child’s education regularly, which had to be handled by her, including once being made responsible for the sufferings of a relative from a skin disease.

The court observed that Section 498A IPC specifically mentions wilful conduct which should be of such a nature which is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide, and that this willful conduct may need not be in the form of physical assault but manual harassment also would come within the purview of Section 498A IPC, and bringing relatives at home does not amount to cruelty towards the wife.

This court observed that while exercising its power under Section 482 CrPC, it cannot hold a mini-trial to ascertain whether the statements recorded by the various witnesses are correct or not, and declined to quash the case against the husband.