Stranger or acquaintance, not blood relative, can't be named as accused in domestic violence act: Bombay HC

Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed an FIR filed against relatives of a husband and a woman mediator from Nanded district of Maharashtra who had been slapped with a domestic violence case by the wife.

Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed an FIR filed against relatives of a husband and a woman mediator from Nanded district of Maharashtra who had been slapped with a domestic violence case by the wife. While quashing the FIR, the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court said that a stranger or acquaintance, who is not a relative by blood, marriage or adoption cannot be named as an accused under section 498 A ( Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty ) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The court was hearing a plea filed by a husband, his father, married and unmarried sisters, cousin father in law and a mediator who was not even related by marriage, blood or adoption to the wife. The couple were married in 2018 and the wife alleged that two months after the marriage the husband and his family started demanding money and taunted her. They allegedly even beat the wife and ultimately threw her out 7 months later in 2019.