Supreme Court Imposes Costs and Criticizes Misuse of State Machinery in Rajasthan Police Case

The Supreme Court has imposed a fine of ₹5 lakhs on the father of a lady police officer from Rajasthan, finding misuse of state machinery in filing a marital cruelty case twice against the officer's estranged husband. Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra criticized the Rajasthan High Court and State Police for allowing multiple criminal complaints.

The Court was hearing an appeal challenging the refusal of the Rajasthan High Court to quash a case filed by the Rajasthan police under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (cruelty to a married woman).

The accused man claimed that similar cases were filed against him in two districts, Udaipur (Rajasthan) and Hisar (Haryana), based on the same allegations.

The complaint was filed by the father of a police officer who had married the accused man in 2015. A criminal case alleging marital cruelty was filed against the appellant in Haryana, while a similar complaint was lodged in Udaipur, Rajasthan.

The appellant filed a plea to quash the case registered in Udaipur, which was rejected by the trial court and the Rajasthan High Court. Subsequently, he appealed to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court criticized the conduct of the complainant and his daughter, noting that they wasted the time of both the Hisar police and the Haryana trial court. The Court also questioned the actions of the Rajasthan Police and the High Court in allowing the proceedings to continue.

The appeal was allowed, and the criminal case registered at Udaipur was quashed. The Court directed the complainant to pay half of the ₹5 lakh costs to the appellant, with the remaining amount to be given to the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee.