BENGALURU: In a rare case of a woman adopting a modus operandi of getting married, creating rifts in the family, filing case after case, settling them, and making money from it, the Karnataka High Court quashed criminal proceedings initiated against Hussain (47) for having indulged in cruelty over demand for dowry from his wife Tabassum (30). It was her seventh marriage out of a total of nine.
“The sequence, as projected by the petitioner, is striking. One marriage follows another; matrimonial discord is followed by litigation, which in several instances is followed by settlement; and the matrimonial journey thereafter proceeds to yet another alliance.
The petitioner contends that this recurring course of conduct is not an accidental concatenation of matrimonial misfortunes, but discloses a pattern in which a criminal process is allegedly employed to secure monetary advantage,” said Justice M Nagaprasanna, while allowing the petition filed by Hussain, challenging the proceedings initiated by Tabassum.
The petitioner married the complainant, Tabassum, in 2022. The marriage was reportedly mediated by a mutual friend. The petitioner and complainant, along with family members of the petitioner, continued to reside under the same roof after the marriage for a brief period.
The relationship between the petitioner and complainant is said to have floundered, which led to skirmishes between the husband and wife, resulting in certain proceedings initiated by the complainant against the husband and other members of the family.
Police filed a charge sheet against the husband and dropped others. The trial court took cognisance of the offences. Hence, the husband moved the high court.
Tabassum’s counsel contended that the marriage certificates produced to demonstrate that the petitioner is the seventh husband are fake. The pictures are morphed, and as the petitioner is a politician, he can get it done the way he wants. She acknowledged that the complainant has had a few marriages, but submitted that he had undertaken those marriages after she obtained divorce, talaq or khula from all of them and there is no overlap of marriage is what is contended.
However, she admitted to four marriages - 1, 3, 5 and 7. However, she submitted that proceedings against the petitioner must not be quashed, as there is abundant material against him for having indulged in cruelty on the score of demand of dowry, she argued.
The court noted that if allegations in the complaint and material collected during investigation, even when taken at face value, fail to disclose the commission of offences alleged, compelling the petitioner to undergo the rigours of a criminal trial would serve no legitimate purpose.