In a petition filed before the Delhi High Court for seeking the quashing of First Information Report (FIR) filed for commission offences under Section 498A/406/34/494 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC) and Section 3/4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and proceedings on the ground that the complainant (respondent 2) (wife) had compromised the dispute with petitioner 1 (husband) as well as petitioner 2 (mother-in-law), a Single Judge Bench of Justice Girish Kathpalia dismissed the petition imposing exemplary costs of Rs. 1,00,000/- on the petitioners for misleading authorities while issuing directions regarding the same.
The impugned FIR stated that the husband contacted the wife via social media and made a proposal to marry her. The couple got married and registered their marriage with the Marriage Registration Officer in October 2020. In August 2021, while applying for a government scheme, the wife used her husband’s Aadhaar card and learned that he was already married to another woman, with whom he had two children. The wife had also made allegations regarding offences under Sections 498A/406 of the IPC.
The Court noted that even though the marriage between the husband and wife was void since the husband was already married, his marriage with the respondent wife had also been dissolved by way of a decree of divorce with mutual consent. It was found that the Family Court was misled into passing the divorce decree. Upon perusing a copy of the divorce petition under Section 13B (1) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, it was found that the marital status of the husband had been pleaded as bachelor.
Further, the Court noted that the wife was unaware of her husband’s marital status and had no explanation for why she signed the divorce petition, which stated her husband’s marital status as bachelor. It was also noted that the wife’s counsel failed to disclose the falsehood in the divorce petition to the Family Court.
The counsel for the petitioners submitted that the divorce petition, containing false pleadings, was filed by another counsel whom he did not know. The Court noted that the divorce petition, as shown by counsel for the wife, was filed by counsel for both parties to the petition, and that the addresses of the two counsel who had filed their vakalatnama on behalf of the petitioners were identical.
The Court stated that the husband and the wife, in consonance with their counsel, had committed fraud against the Family Court by falsely declaring the husband’s marital status as bachelor. Further, the Court held that the husband had also deceived the Office of the Registrar of Marriages by falsely disclosing his marital status as bachelor, thereby leading to the issuance of a marriage registration certificate to the couple.
Further, the Court said that it could not lose sight of the fact that two children from the husband’s earlier marriage and another child from the respondent wife were suffering for no fault of theirs and dismissed the petition with an exemplary cost of Rs. 1,00,000/- to be deposited within one week by the petitioners. Lastly, the Court issued the following directions:
• The police of Harsh Vihar Police Station were directed to immediately take appropriate legal action regarding the matter and to file a report with the Registry within three days.
• The copy of this judgmentwas directed to be immediately sent to Family Court-01, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi, for appropriate orders regarding the decree of divorce dated 30.08.2025 obtained by the petitioner husband and the respondent wife.
• The copy of this judgment was directed to be sent to the Marriage Registration Office from where the Marriage Registration Certificate was procured.
• The copy of this judgment was directed to be sent to the Bar Council of Delhi for appropriate proceedings in accordance with law.
Appearances:
For Petitioner – Mr. Brahm Kumar Pandey
For Respondent – Mr. Amit Ahlawat, Ms. Shehnaz Khan, Ms. Priyanka Rani
