In a unique word of caution, the Karnataka High Court warned a husband that the criminal case filed by his wife against him could be reopened if he ill-treats her when they begin to live together again.
Justice Anand Byrareddy passed the order while quashing the criminal case, filed by the wife, accusing the husband of voluntarily hurting her and subjecting her to cruelty.
The couple married in 2014. As relations between them began to sour, the wife, in 2015, filed a criminal case against the husband, and the police booked him under Sections 498A (subjecting women to cruelty) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
The wife had also filed a petition seeking divorce and a family court had referred the dispute for mediation. It turned out to be a success and the dispute between them was resolved.
With the couple agreeing to “reunite and bury their differences”, the plea seeking divorce was withdrawn. But the criminal case booked by the wife could not be closed as the trial court lacked the jurisdiction as the offences alleged were non-compoundable ones.
Following this, the husband filed a petition in the High Court seeking a direction from the court to quash the criminal proceedings as per the Supreme Court’s 2012 verdict in the case of Gian Singh vs State of Punjab, in which the apex court had issued a guideline to the High Courts for quashing criminal proceedings, even if the cases involve certain selected category of non-compoundable offences, where the wrong is basically private or personal and the parties have resolved the entire dispute.
The couple personally appeared before the High Court and conveyed their decision to reunite, and the husband made an undertaking that “he will never raise his hand against his wife and will treat her with respect and love”. Though the court observed that the husband’s assurance “does not evoke confidence”, it quashed the criminal proceedings with a condition that the wife is at liberty to reopen the case if the husband ill-treats her.
