General allegations of dowry leave scar on man’s relatives, must be discouraged, says Supreme Court

New Delhi, 8/2: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a man’s relatives cannot be forced to undergo trial on the basis of general and omnibus allegations of dowry harassment by his wife as this could leave a severe scar on the accused and must be resisted.

General and omnibus cannot manifest in a situation where the relatives of the complainant’s husband are forced to undergo trial. A criminal trial leading to an eventual acquittal also inflicts severe scars upon the accused, and such an exercise must therefore be discouraged,” a bench of justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari said.

In its judgement, the top court allowed an appeal filed by family members of Md Ikram of Purnea against the Patna High Court’s judgement for quashing of an FIR on allegations of dowry demand of a car and threat to terminate the pregnancy of his wife