The Delhi High Court has stayed criminal trial proceedings against two persons accused of rape, cruelty and other offences, while expressing concern over the emerging trend of complainants invoking serious sexual offence allegations in matrimonial disputes to pressure the in-laws into monetary settlements.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia passed the interim order while hearing a petition seeking the quashing of FIR No. 239/2024 registered at Sangam Vihar Police Station under Sections 498A, 406, 376, 354A, 506, 509 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860.
The petitioners, Vikram Kumar Jha alias Aryan Advik and another, contended that the criminal proceedings were initiated by their estranged sister-in-law as a retaliatory measure after the complainant’s husband instituted divorce proceedings.
According to the petition, the complainant married the brother of the first petitioner on July 8, 2016, and the couple has two children. The husband filed a divorce petition on September 18, 2023, following which the complainant lodged the FIR on April 15, 2024.
Senior Advocate Rishi Malhotra, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that the original FIR contained allegations of cruelty and other matrimonial offences but did not include any allegation of rape against the brothers-in-law. He argued that the allegation of rape surfaced for the first time in the complainant’s statement recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) on June 15, 2024, wherein she alleged that the incident had occurred in 2017.
The petitioners further argued that there was no explanation for the delay of nearly seven years in raising such a serious allegation. They contended that the criminal case had been initiated with mala fide intent and amounted to an abuse of the criminal justice process to exert pressure during the matrimonial dispute.
After considering the submissions, the High Court observed that the petitioners’ submissions appeared to have substance. The Court noted that following the Supreme Court’s decision in Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014), which curtailed automatic arrests in cases under Sections 498A and 406 of the IPC to prevent misuse of those provisions, a trend appeared to be emerging in matrimonial disputes where allegations of rape, molestation and other sexual offences were being levelled against in-laws to compel settlement of such disputes through hefty monetary settlements.
Taking note of the circumstances, the High Court granted interim relief by staying the trial court proceedings against the petitioners pending further consideration of the matter. It also issued notice to the complainant through the Investigating Officer. The Additional Public Prosecutor accepted notice on behalf of the State and was directed to file a status report at least one week before the next date of hearing. The matter has been listed for further hearing on November 17, 2026.
The post Delhi High Court flags trend of sexual offence allegations in matrimonial disputes to secure settlements appeared first on India Legal.