Kerala High Court: A Woman's Partner and His Family Can't Be Charged with Cruelty Without a Legal Marriage

In the case X v State of Kerala and Anr, the Kerala High Court canceled a criminal case against a man accused of cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by his wife. The court said that without proof of a legal marriage between the couple, there cannot be charges of cruelty against the man or his relatives.

In this case, the Family Court had declared the marriage between the man (the petitioner) and the woman (the complainant) as null and void in 2013. This was because the woman’s first marriage was still legally valid and had not been dissolved. The High Court ruled that since the marriage between the petitioner and the complainant was legally void, there was no valid marriage in the eyes of the law.

Justice A. Badharudeen, the judge handling the case, stated that without a legal marriage, the man did not have the legal status of a husband. According to Section 498A of the IPC, cruelty charges can only be applied to a husband or his relatives. Since there was no legal marriage, the charges under Section 498A could not be applied to the man or his family.

The complainant had accused the man of treating her cruelly during their stay at the matrimonial home after their marriage on November 2, 2009. However, the man's lawyer argued that their marriage was not valid because the woman’s first marriage was still active at that time. The Family Court had already declared their marriage null and void.

The High Court, relying on earlier judgments, observed that cruelty under Section 498A IPC can only be committed by a husband or his relatives. Since the man was never legally the woman’s husband, the charges could not stand. The court, therefore, canceled the criminal case and legal proceedings against the man.