Madhya Pradesh High Court rules on conjugal rights and cruelty FIRs

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that a husband's plea for the restitution of conjugal rights under Muslim law is not sufficient grounds to quash a criminal FIR filed by his wife alleging cruelty and dowry harassment. Justice Pramod Kumar Agrawal held that civil proceedings regarding matrimonial rights do not automatically invalidate criminal charges under Section 498-A of the IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act.

While the court refused to quash the case against the husband, it did discharge his mother and two sisters from the proceedings, citing that the allegations against them were vague and omnibus in nature. The dispute involved a couple married in 2020, where the husband claimed the wife's FIR was a counterblast to his legal efforts to have her return to the matrimonial home.