The Supreme Court has quashed criminal proceedings against a mother-in-law after finding that the allegations and investigation material did not establish the ingredients of the charged offences against her.
Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh allowed Prabha Devi’s appeal on September 8.
The bench found no specific unlawful demand or sufficiently particularised conduct supporting cruelty under Section 498A IPC. A later assertion that she had failed to restrain her son lacked the factual foundation needed to establish cruelty or common intention.
The court also found the necessary particulars missing for wrongful restraint, hurt and intentional insult. An allegation about jewellery could not substitute for the ingredients of the different offences actually charged.
The Patna High Court had already quashed the case against other in-laws without explaining why the mother-in-law should remain in the prosecution.
The Supreme Court’s relief applies only to Prabha Devi. Proceedings against the husband were left to be decided on their own merits.