In Brief
The Supreme Court quashed criminal proceedings against the in-laws of a woman who filed an FIR alleging cruelty and forced miscarriage under Sections 498-A, 312, and 313 of the IPC. The allegations were vague and omnibus, lacking specific instances of the alleged cruelty. The FIR was filed two years after the alleged miscarriage incident and six months after the woman's divorce notice, which conspicuously omitted any reference to these serious allegations. The Court held that such retaliatory and delayed complaints, coupled with the absence of prima facie evidence connecting the accused to the miscarriage, constitute an abuse of process and must be quashed under Section 482 of the Cr.P.C.
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