Shivani Gadhavi
Published On: January 16, 2022 at 15:56 IST
The Supreme Court of India recently in one of its judgments stated that an accused under Section 498(A) of the Indian Penal Code has the fundamental right of personal liberty to travel abroad, as in this case the accused is not even one of the prime accused persons.
The Supreme Court of India was hearing a matter based on a First Information Report (FIR) filed by a complainant against her husband and her in-laws under Sections 323, 34, 406, 420, 498(A) and 506 of the Indian Penal Code.
In the present instance, the complainant’s brother-in-law, who is one of the accused in the First Information Report (FIR), had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against an order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which dismissed his plea for permission to travel abroad to the United States of America to resume his job.
The Petitioner, in this case, is accused by a complainant (his sister-in-law) in another case under Section 498A (Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code. The Complainant accused the current Petitioner of using cruelty against her.
The Supreme Court stated, “The allegations in the complaint against the Appellant prima facie do not disclose, against the Appellant, any offence under Section 498A of the IPC, which contemplates cruelty, that is willful conduct of such a nature, as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to the life, limb or health (whether physical or mental) of the woman.”
The Bench of Justices Indira Mukherjee and J K Maheshwari stated, “The order of the High Court denying permission to this Appellant to leave the country is not sustainable in law and is set aside.”