
The division bench of Justices Chandra Dhari Singh and Tarun Saxena quashed the FIR on October 8, 2025, after reviewing the evidence and finding it insufficient to sustain the charges. The allegations included dowry demands, physical assault, denial of food, threats, retention of the wife’s stridhan, and an attempt to strangle her; none of these were corroborated by police reports or contemporaneous PCR calls. The marriage was solemnised on November 12, 2024, and the wife departed the matrimonial home on February 3, 2025, after roughly two and a half months of cohabitation. Following the divorce petition filed on May 3, 2025, the FIR was lodged on June 30, 2025; however, the court stressed that criminal proceedings should not serve as a substitute for adjudication before a matrimonial court. Both parties remain free to pursue the pending divorce before the competent family court, and the complainant may also seek independent remedies under the law for any distinct causes of action.