INSIGHTS
Matrimonial law · Criminal procedure
Matrimonial Disputes and Criminal Proceedings: Why Specific Allegations Matter
A matrimonial conflict may involve criminal allegations, but an accusation is not a finding of guilt. The facts attributed to each person, the applicable statute and the stage of proceedings all matter.
Criminal proceedings connected with a matrimonial dispute can have serious consequences for everyone involved. Careful analysis requires more than treating the dispute as either purely private or automatically criminal: the alleged conduct must be assessed under the relevant offence and on the material available at the particular stage.
Identify the applicable law and dates
For conduct to which the current penal code applies, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), including sections 85 and 86, addresses cruelty by a husband or a relative of a husband and defines the term for that offence. The BNS commenced on 1 July 2024. Older records may refer to section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC); the BNS repeal-and-savings provisions mean that the relevant dates and procedural posture matter. An older IPC judgment should not automatically be presented as an interpretation of the BNS.
Why the allegations against each person matter
Where several people are named, the allegations and conduct attributed to each person should be examined individually. A clear account of the alleged acts, context and respective roles helps the court assess whether the statutory requirements are engaged. Family relationship alone neither establishes criminal liability nor creates automatic immunity.
This is not a rule that every allegation must be proved at the outset, or that a complaint must use a particular form of words. What can properly be decided depends on the record, the offence alleged and the procedural stage. An accusation remains an allegation unless and until guilt is established through the legal process.
What one Supreme Court decision illustrates
In Kahkashan Kausar @ Sonam v. State of Bihar, decided on 8 February 2022 and reported as (2022) 6 SCC 599, the Supreme Court considered proceedings under IPC section 498A in which relatives were also accused. The Court examined the nature of the allegations made against those appellants and set aside the proceedings against them in that case.
The decision must be kept within its facts and its IPC context. It does not establish that relatives are immune from prosecution, or that a court must quash every case involving broadly worded allegations. The individual allegations and the record remain central.
Allegations and findings are different stages
Whether a complaint, investigation, charge or trial should proceed is a legal question tied to the applicable procedure and available material. A court's decision at one stage does not turn an untested allegation into a proven fact. Similarly, a person named in a complaint should not be described as guilty unless there is a finding by a competent court.
