Hyderabad: The Telangana high court quashed criminal proceedings against a retired additional SP and his wife, a govt teacher, in a dowry harassment case registered by their daughter-in-law’s father. Finding no evidence against the couple, the court ruled that they could not be subjected to the ordeal of trial, especially when there were no allegations of cruelty or harassment or any demand for dowry against them.The court examined the case facts and the evidence on record. Further relying on precedent judgments in similar matters, it noted that the couple (petitioners) could not be dragged into criminal prosecution, as doing so would be an abuse of the process of law. Consequently, the case was quashed. The case was registered at the women’s police station at Gachibowli in 2021 and was pending before the court at Kukatpally.According to the complaint, at the time of the wedding, the complainant, a businessman, spent around Rs 50 lakh on the wedding, gave one kg of gold to his daughter, and Rs 20 lakh in cash to his son-in-law’s family. However, his daughter was allegedly harassed for an additional dowry of Rs 25 lakh.After the wedding, the daughter and son-in-law migrated to the US. However, after his daughter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, the son-in-law brought her to India, left her with her parents and returned to the US. Later, after she flew back to the US to be with her husband, the harassment for additional dowry continued, the complainant alleged.When the matter came before the high court, it was observed that except for stating that the petitioners had instigated their son in harassing his wife, not a single instance of harassment, cruelty, or demand for dowry was referred against them.“It is also an admitted fact that the petitioners are staying away from their son and daughter-in-law, and therefore there was no occasion or necessity for them to harass their daughter-in-law,” recorded the court.The court also pointed to the delay in lodging the complaint in 2021 when the marriage was solemnised in 2018 and the alleged harassment started immediately.
