In Brief
A father publicly disowned his eldest son in 1999; the son later married the complainant in 2000. The complainant filed a cruelty complaint under Section 498A IPC against the father, uncles, and brothers in 2007—seven years after her marriage. She compromised with her husband but continued prosecuting the other family members. The Supreme Court held that these facts demonstrated the complaint was maliciously filed due to personal grudge over the disinheritance, not genuine cruelty. The court quashed the proceedings under Section 482 CrPC, finding the case fell within Category 7 of the Bhajan Lal guidelines (manifestly mala fide proceedings instituted with ulterior motive for wreaking vengeance due to private grudge).
The lawyer headnote and full judgment text are available to registered users.