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Bombay High Court Acquits Satara Man, Overturns Decades-Old Cruelty Conviction

The court said remarks on complexion and cooking fell short of the grave harassment required under Section 498-A IPC.

A single-judge bench of justice S M Modak observed that the allegations of harassment were limited to the husband taunting his wife over her dark complexion and threatening to remarry, while the father-in-law allegedly criticised her cooking skills.
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Overview

  • The Bombay High Court set aside Sadashiv Rupnawar’s 1998 conviction for cruelty to a married woman and abetment of suicide and acquitted him of all charges.
  • Justice S M Modak ruled that taunts about his wife Prema’s dark complexion and criticisms of her cooking constituted domestic quarrels, not criminal cruelty under Section 498-A IPC.
  • The court found the prosecution failed to establish a direct causal link between the alleged harassment and Prema’s death by suicide, which is essential for an abetment charge under Section 306 IPC.
  • The judgment criticised the trial court’s misapplication of legal principles, emphasising that cruelty must involve wilful conduct of a grave nature to trigger criminal liability.
  • The ruling underscores the need to balance protection against genuine domestic abuse with precise application of criminal statutes in historical cases.