Many times, Parents including Close Relatives of a Wife make a mountain out of a mole. No sooner it reaches Police, fair chances of reconciliation would get destroyed. The foundation of a sound marriage is tolerance, adjustment and respecting one another. Tolerance to each other’s fault to a certain bearable extent has to be inherent in every marriage. Petty quibbles, trifling differences are mundane matters and should not be exaggerated and blown out of proportion to destroy what is said to have been made in heaven. Police cannot be utilized for purpose of holding a Husband at ransom. If criminal proceedings are allowed to continue against Achin, same will be nothing short of abuse of process of law & travesty of justice.

“It is also a matter of common knowledge, exaggerated versions are reflected in a large number of complaints. The tendency of over implication is also reflected in a very large number of cases. It is high time, Legislature must take into consideration pragmatic realities and make suitable changes in existing law. We direct Registry to send a copy of this Judgment to Law Commission and to Union Law Secretary, Government of India who may place it before Hon’ble Minister for Law and Justice to take appropriate steps in larger interest of society.”

– Preeti Gupta v. State of Jharkhand, 2010 Criminal Law Journal 4303 (1).

We looked into Sections 85 and 86 of The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which is to come into force with effect from 01/07/2024 so as to ascertain whether Legislature has seriously looked into suggestions of this Court as made in Preeti Gupta. We request, Legislature to look.

– Hon’ble Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Achin Gupta v. State of Haryana, [Criminal Appeal 2379 of 2024]. 

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Mala Kar v. State of Uttarakhand, Criminal Appeal No. 1684 of 2024 and Arun Jain v. State of NCT of Delhi, Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 9178 of 2018, while exercising powers under Article 142, quashed criminal proceedings arising out of matrimonial discord.  Court took note, once divorced, to continue with criminal prosecution would amount to abuse of process of law.

Once a marital relationship has ended in divorce and parties have moved on with their lives, continuation of criminal proceedings against Family Members, especially in absence of specific and proximate allegations, serves no legitimate purpose.

– Hon’ble Justice B.V. Nagarathna, Mange Ram v. State of Madhya Pradesh, [Special Leave Petition (Criminal) No. 10817 of 2024] decided on 12.08.2025.