The Supreme Court (SC) recently provided relief to a husband from criminal cases of 498A (cruelty) and 304B (dowry death) by ruling that a brief period of non-communication with his wife, without more substantial evidence, could not be treated as “cruelty” under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The SC observed that differences and temporary non-communication can occur in married life and do not automatically amount to criminal charges of cruelty.
This judgement came in an appeal filed by an engineer employed in Muscat, Oman. According to the submission, he married on November 2, 2014, and lived with his wife till November 29, 2014, before returning to Muscat for work. The wife could not accompany him because her passport formalities were still pending, preventing her from obtaining the visa required to travel to Oman.