New Delhi: Flagging a “tendency” to drag the husband’s kin in matrimonial disputes, Delhi High Court has upheld the discharge of Mayank Singhvi, husband of the late flight attendant Anissia Batra, from charges of cruelty and abetment of suicide.
HC also upheld a trial court’s decision to discharge his parents of the charges of cruelty and causing dowry death.
Justice Jain also said that the court “wishes to emphasise the importance of timely support from the parental family when a daughter speaks of violence or persistent mistreatment in her marriage… The anguish arising from a troubled marriage is understandable, but it cannot justify drawing the entire family into criminal proceedings without a specific role being attributed to the persons concerned. Her concerns should not be brushed aside with an advice to adjust, nor should a fear of social disapproval stand in the way of offering her a safe home… Preserving a marriage cannot take precedence over her safety and dignity, and support should not have to await an irretrievable tragedy. ”
Justice Madhu Jain expressed concern over “the tendencies today to implicate the husband’s relatives in matrimonial disputes through sweeping allegations of cruelty.
Because of their relationship with the husband, and even the husbands should not be, without cause, penalized, the law must therefore afford effective protection to a woman subjected to cruelty, while ensuring that relatives are not made to face prosecution merely. The judge underlined that a “criminal prosecution has consequences that extend beyond the courtroom, affecting reputation, livelihood and family life.
A sessions court had discharged Mayank of the dowry death charge but directed framing of charges against him for the offences of cruelty and abetment of suicide. It discharged his parents in the case.