Asking daughter-in-law to wash clothes, utensils not cruelty under Section 498A IPC: Bombay High Court

The Kolhapur Bench of the Bombay High Court on Tuesday quashed a First Information Report (FIR) against six relatives of a woman’s husband, ruling that asking a daughter-in-law to wash clothes and utensils does not amount to cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The prosecution cannot proceed on this allegation, the Court held.The complainant filed the FIR in 2025, naming her husband’s parents, sisters and a brother. She stated that her husband took her to a house in Kalyan-Badlapur, and that she stayed at a sister’s house, where she washed clothes and utensils.She did not mention the time, date, place or manner of the alleged harassment. She also accused the relatives of instigating her husband to quarrel with her because she could not conceive. She said she had health issues and had to divorce her husband.Justice A.J. Mantri noted that the FIR did not attribute specific roles to the petitioners. The allegations lacked specifics and were made against all of them collectively.The woman lived in Pune with her husband, while the relatives lived in Satara, Abu Dhabi, Ulhasnagar and Ambernath. She visited Satara occasionally and stayed once at the Badlapur house of her husband’s sister. As she was not living with the petitioners, the question of cruelty did not arise, the Court said.Finding that neither the FIR nor the charge sheet disclosed an offence under Section 498A, the Bench quashed the FIR.Advocate Ganesh Jadhav appeared for the petitioners, Prosecutor Priyanka Rane for the State and Advocate Kavita Shinde for the complainant. Published - October 15, 2026 05:45 am IST