No whiff of dishonesty or intent to cheat: Bombay High Court; junks FIR on woman who eloped before wedding

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday quashed a cheating case filed by a Pune man against his would-be daughter-in-law, who eloped with her paramour just days before her scheduled wedding in 2022 with the complainant's son, holding there was no intention on the woman's part to deceive anyone.

A division bench of Justices A S Gadkari and Neela Gokhale described the situation as a "regrettable case" involving a young woman who struggled to disclose her romantic relationship to her parents.

The court emphasized there was no intention on the part of the woman or her family to deceive the complainant or his relatives.

The HC outlined the unfortunate series of events wherein the young woman, defying family and societal expectations, fell in love with someone of her own choosing. However, she could not muster courage to tell her family about the relationship.

Her family mistakenly assumed that her silence was agreement to an arranged marriage, leading them to finalize her engagement with the complainant's son and set a wedding date for May 1, 2022.

The bench, in its order, noted the applicants (woman and her family) did not gain any monetary benefit from the alleged offence, but on the contrary, they, too, were defamed and embarrassed after the elopement episode.

The high court pointed out that to prove the offence of cheating, the complaint must show deception and a dishonest intention on the part of the accused. The present case prima facie does not disclose the commission of the cognizable offence of 'cheating'.

"There is no whiff of any dishonesty or intention to deceive. It is a regrettable case of a hapless young woman who went along with her parents' decision to marry the man (of their choice), but at the last minute developed cold feet to enter a charade of marriage," the HC observed.

The woman's plight in not being brave enough to confide in her parents about her relationship with another man cannot be construed as "cheating" and hence a prosecution cannot be foisted upon her, the high court noted.

"The decision to remain silent can at best be injudicious, but not dishonest," the HC maintained, adding there was no intention on the part of the woman or her family to cheat the complainant or his family members.

The bench emphasised the offence of cheating is not made out in the present case and at best it can be a case of defamation against the accused persons.

The court noted the present case was an unfortunate series of events where a young woman, undaunted by familial and societal traditions, fell in love with a man of her choice, but lacked courage to reveal the same to her family.

Oblivious to the woman's choice, her parents fixed her wedding with a man of their choice, mistaking their daughter's silence as her approval for the matrimonial alliance, the HC observed.

An engagement ceremony had taken place between the woman and the man chosen by her parents and the marriage date was fixed as May 1, 2022. A few days before the marriage, the woman eloped with her paramour pursuant to which her parents lodged a missing person complaint.

The woman's would-be in-laws filed a cheating complaint against her and family members. They alleged they had concealed the woman's relation with another man from them and hence cheated and defamed them.

The woman's family members filed a petition in the HC seeking to quash the FIR lodged against them in Pune claiming they had no intention to cheat or defame the complainant or his family.

The court, while quashing the case, said the complainant was at liberty to initiate appropriate action under law for the offence of defamation.