The Karnataka High Court has said that a complaint filed by the second wife against her husband or her in-laws for cruelty or ill-treatment will “not be entertained."
The High Court said that any complaints under Section 498(A), which deals with a married woman being subject to cruelty of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) shall not be entertained, if filed by a second wife.
If the complainant is a man’s second wife, that makes their marriage “null and void," a single-judge bench of Justice S Rachaiah said.
The court set aside the conviction of a 46-year-old man and said that once the complainant woman is considered as the second wife, the complaint filed under section 498-A will not be taken into consideration.
“In other words, a complaint filed by the second wife against the husband and her in-laws is not maintainable," it said.
“The courts below committed an error in applying the principles and also the law in this aspect. Therefore, interference by this court in exercising the revisional jurisdiction is justified," it added.
The court was hearing a Criminal Revision Petition filed by Kantharaju, a resident of Vittavathanahalli in the state’s Tumakuru district.
In her complaint, Kantharaju’s second wife who had lived together for 5 years and also had a son together said that she had become paralyzed. After her health issues, her husband started harassing her, and subjecting her to cruelty.
The Trail Court in Tumakuru the husband guilty in January 2019, howeverKantharaju approached the High Court with the Revision Petition the same year.
And cut to now, when the High Court set aside the lower court’s order and said that a second wife was not entitled to file a complaint under Section 498A.
With PTI inputs