SL. No. Date Office Notes, reports, orders or proceedings or directions and Registrar’s order with Signatures COURT’S OR JUDGE’S ORDERS C-482 No. 229 of 2017 Hon’ble Alok Mahra, J. Ms. Suraiya Naaz, learned counsel, holding brief of Mr. Lalit Sharma, learned counsel for the applicants. 2. Mr. B.N. Maulakhi, learned Deputy A.G. alongwith Mr. Akshay Latwal, learned A.G.A. for the State. 3. The present Criminal Misc. Application under section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed by the applicants for quashing and setting-aside the summoning 20.12.2016 passed by learned Judicial Magistrate, Rudrapur, District Udham Singh Nagar in Criminal Case No. 14816 2013 under section 498-A, 323, 504 and 506 of I.P.C & 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. 4. Learned counsel for the applicant nos. 1 and 2 are brother-in-law and applicant no. 3 is married sister-in-law of respondent no. 2/complainant. Learned counsel further submits that applicant no. 2 is a student, whose date of birth is 01.01.1998 and applicant no. 3, who is sister-in-law of the complainant was married fifteen years ago on 06.05.2010 and after marriage, she was residing at her matrimonial house at Baheri, District Bareilly. The allegations levelled against the applicants in the FIR were vague. Learned counsel would further submit that the matter arises out of matrimonial discord. 5. Per contra, learned counsel for the State submits that the evidence collected was placed before the learned court below, which, after applying its judicial mind, rightly summoned the applicants to face trial under the said section. 6. Heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the material available on record. 7. Taking into the fact that other main co-accused have been acquitted in the trial and the applicants have been charged with the same-self offence as the other co-accused, no fruitful purpose would be served if the applicants are sent to the Trial Court for facing similar trial in which other main co- accused are acquitted on same charges on the basis on same fact of evidence. 8. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in a catena of judgments, has consistently held that in matrimonial disputes where specific allegations are levelled only against the husband and mother-in-law, and the main accused are subsequently acquitted, continuation of criminal proceedings against the remaining co- accused serves no useful purpose. 9. The Hon’ble Supreme Court in the case of ‘State of Haryana v. Bhajan Lal, reported in AIR 1992 SC 604, has held that criminal proceedings can be quashed if they amount to abuse of the process of law or are based on vague or omnibus allegations. In the case of ‘Dara Lakshmi Narayana v. State of Telangana’, reported in (2025) 3 SCC 735, the Hon’ble Apex Court reiterated that criminal proceedings against in-laws without specific allegations amount to misuse of the legal process. 10. In the present case, the allegations made in the complaint are vague and do not disclose specific acts of cruelty or demand of dowry against the present applicants. It appears to be a case of over-implication wherein the entire family of the husband has been unnecessarily dragged into criminal proceedings without substantive material. 11. In such circumstances, allowing the criminal proceedings to continue against the applicants would be an abuse of the process of law. Therefore, this Court is of the considered view that it is a fit case to exercise its inherent jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to secure the ends of justice. 12. Accordingly, the present criminal misc. application filed under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is allowed. Consequently, the summoning order dated 20.12.2016 passed by learned Judicial Magistrate, Rudrapur, District Udham Singh Nagar in Criminal Case No. 14816 2013 under section 498-A, 323, 504 and 506 of I.P.C & 3/4 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the entire proceedings arising out from it, are hereby quashed. (Alok Mahra, J.) 31.07.2025 Ujjwal