In a case that blended the glitz of Netflix with the grit of courtroom drama, the Jammu & Kashmir High Court pulled the curtain on a domestic cruelty case, finding it to be more performance than substance.
The drama centered on the divorce of Kunwar Sood and Prerna Gupta — a couple who once grinned and glided down the aisle in The Big Day, Netflix’s glossy ode to lavish Indian weddings. But long after the lights dimmed, Gupta filed a criminal complaint in 2024, naming Sood’s maternal uncle, Sumesh Chadha, as a central villain in her post-marriage saga.
Her allegations? That Chadha had stoked tensions, encouraged dowry harassment, and withheld her jewelry. He wasn’t just an uncle, she claimed — he was a co-conspirator in cruelty.
But the High Court wasn’t buying the script.
Justice Rajnesh Oswal, in a ruling delivered earlier this month, said the case smelled more of pressure tactics than penal substance. The judge noted the divorce was already finalized and concluded the complaint against Chadha seemed engineered to squeeze the in-laws into returning belongings.
“It is evident the petitioner has been arrayed as accused only to pressurize him,” the Court observed, calling the continued investigation “an abuse of process.”
Chadha, who had initially tried to mediate between the estranged couple, had since found himself accused of inciting harassment. His defense? That there were no specific charges against him when the marriage unraveled — and even if Gupta’s claims were accepted at face value, they didn’t amount to offenses under Sections 498A or 420 of the IPC.
His counsel leaned on precedent too, reminding the bench that the Supreme Court has long cautioned against casually dragging extended relatives into domestic violence complaints.
And in the end, the High Court agreed — striking down the case against Chadha and reiterating that justice should not be weaponized to settle scores.
No jewelry was exchanged in court. But one thing was made clear: Not every family drama deserves a courtroom sequel.