Prayagraj (UP), Aug 21 The Allahabad High Court has quashed an FIR lodged by a judicial officer husband against his doctor wife and two others, noting that the criminal proceedings were not bona fide but malicious and also an abuse of the process of the court.
A two-judge bench comprising Justice Rajiv Mishra and Justice Dr Ajay Kumar allowed the writ petition filed by the wife and two others while setting aside the FIR lodged by a judicial officer in January this year.
The court took into account two circumstances -- the unexplained delay in lodging the FIR and, more significantly, the contradiction between the FIR's allegation that the wife was refusing to cooperate in the divorce proceedings unless Rs 1 crore was paid and the admitted fact that the divorce decree had already been passed several months before the FIR was lodged.
The court observed, "Impugned criminal proceedings have been engineered on account of an ulterior motive and for an extraneous consideration. As such, criminal prosecution of petitioners is not bona fide but malicious and also an abuse of the process of court."
The FIR alleged that the incidents took place on various dates between May 26, 2021 and November 18, 2025. However, the FIR did not explicitly mention any specific day, date or time as to when those occurrences took place.
The primary allegation against the wife was that she refused to grant a divorce until she was paid Rs 1 crore. Challenging the FIR, the wife moved the high court arguing that the FIR was belated.
Accepting this submission, the division bench noted that the delay in lodging the FIR had not been sufficiently explained. The court found a fundamental contradiction between the allegation of demand for money and the undisputed chronology on record.
The wife-petitioner pointed out that her husband had instituted a divorce petition under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act, which was allowed and divorce was decreed by the family court on September 8, 2025.
The FIR, however, was lodged only on January 17, 2026.
Taking note of the same, the high court questioned as to why the factum of the divorce decree granted by the competent court in September 2025 was not disclosed in the FIR.
Thus, the allegation that the wife refused to cooperate in the divorce proceedings until the alleged Rs 1 crore demand was met was found inconsistent with the fact that the divorce had already been granted before the FIR was registered.
The court concluded that the criminal prosecution arising from the FIR cannot be sustained in law and fact.
The high court, in its judgement dated July 27, ultimately allowed the writ petition and quashed the FIR lodged under various sections of the BNS.
