Overview

• On August 8, 2025, Justices Vibha Kankanwadi and Sanjay Deshmukh quashed an FIR filed in August 2023 against a husband and his family, ruling that taunts about a wife’s clothing or cooking abilities do not constitute criminal cruelty under Section 498A
• The court examined pre-marital chat records that disclosed the husband’s physical and mental health issues before marriage and found no concealment of medical information
• Judges questioned the alleged ₹15 lakh demand for a flat purchase, noting that the husband already owned property and that extortion claims lacked supporting evidence
• This decision follows a series of mid-2025 Bombay High Court rulings that have tightened the definition of cruelty to require serious physical or mental harm and robust corroboration
• The bench warned that omnibus allegations without specific proof amount to an abuse of legal process and underscored the importance of clear evidentiary standards