Delhi High Court Quashes Dowry-Harassment FIR: Says Complaint Was 'Vague' and Case an 'Abuse of Power

Delhi: The Delhi High Court has quashed a dowry-harassment FIR filed by a woman whose husband died by suicide barely 40 days after their wedding, calling the case based on vague and unsubstantiated allegations.

Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, while delivering the judgment on Wednesday, said, “The woman’s complaint, when considered as a whole, does not reflect any act of harassment or cruelty.”

The FIR, lodged in 2016, had accused the deceased husband’s parents and sister of cruelty and criminal breach of trust. The accused had approached the court seeking to quash the case, asserting that the allegations were false.

The couple married in March 2016 and began living in Pune, but soon developed differences. The husband allegedly went into depression and died by suicide on April 13, 2016.

The in-laws told the court that they were being threatened and harassed by the woman’s parents, who wanted to falsely implicate the entire family in a dowry case.

Terming the FIR “a clear case of abuse of power,” the court observed that continuing the proceedings would not serve the ends of justice.

Justice Krishna noted, “It is an unfortunate case where the marriage did not survive even for 40 days, leading to the husband’s suicide and subsequent bitter litigation.”