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Shaurabh Kumar Tripathi v. Vidhi Rawal

Criminal Appeal · 2025 INSC 734Decided 19 May 2025
Criminal Appeal No. 2688 of 2025 (with connected Criminal Appeal No. 2689 of 2025)
Justice Abhay S. Oka · Justice Ujjal Bhuyan

Background

Vidhi Rawal married Prateek Tripathi in December 2019. In 2022 she accused her husband, in-laws, and brother-in-law (the appellant here) of dowry harassment, filing both an FIR under Section 498A IPC and a separate application under Section 12 of the Domestic Violence Act, 2005 seeking protection, residence, and monetary reliefs. The accused sought to have the domestic violence proceedings quashed under Section 482 of the CrPC, arguing the High Court had the power to do so; the Madhya Pradesh High Court refused, holding that Section 12 proceedings are civil in nature and therefore cannot be quashed under a provision meant for criminal proceedings.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court disagreed with the High Court's reasoning and held that Section 482 CrPC (and its successor, Section 528 of the BNSS) can indeed be invoked to quash proceedings arising from a Section 12 application under the Domestic Violence Act, because the "second limb" of that power, preventing abuse of the process of any court, is not confined to strictly criminal proceedings. However, the Court cautioned that because the Domestic Violence Act is a welfare statute meant to protect women, High Courts must exercise this power sparingly, intervening only in cases of gross illegality or clear abuse of process, not as a routine alternative to trial on the merits. The matter was sent back to the High Court to be reconsidered afresh in light of this clarified legal position.

Lesson Learnt

A High Court does have the power to quash a domestic violence complaint in an extreme case of abuse of process, but that power is meant to be used sparingly: the protective purpose of the Domestic Violence Act means courts must be very cautious before shutting down a woman's case at the threshold rather than letting it be tested on facts.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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