Extramarital Affair Not Cruelty Without Proof Of Harassment: Delhi HC Grants Bail In Dowry Death Case

The court said that an extramarital relationship alone cannot be grounds for charging a husband with dowry death unless there is a clear link between the alleged affair and demands for dowry.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday ruled that a man’s extramarital affair does not constitute cruelty or abetment to suicide unless it can be proven that it caused harassment or mental torment to his wife.

Justice Sanjeev Narula stated that an extramarital relationship alone cannot be grounds for charging a husband with dowry death unless there is a clear link between the alleged affair and demands for dowry, according to a report by news agency PTI.

As a result, a man who was arrested in a case under Sections 498A (cruelty)/304-B (dowry death), aside from Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of IPC, was granted bail by the court. The man was after his wife died an unnatural death in her matrimonial home on March 18, 2024, within nearly five years of marriage.

"The prosecution relies on materials to suggest that the applicant was involved in an extramarital relationship with a woman. Certain videos and chat records have been cited in support. However, even assuming such a relationship existed, the law is settled that an extramarital affair, per se, does not amount to not, cruelty under Section 498A IPC or abetment under Section 306 IPC, unless it is shown that the relationship was pursued in a manner calculated to harass or torment the deceased," the court ordered.

The court verdict further said that "An extramarital relationship cannot be a ground to implicate the accused under Section 304B IPC. The Court held that harassment or cruelty should be linked to dowry demands or sustained mental cruelty that occurred 'soon before the death'." 

The court noted that the continued incarceration of the man who had been in custody since March 2024 would serve no purpose. Further, the court observed that a chargesheet was registered after conclusion of the probe and the trial was unlikely to conclude in the near future.

Man's Extramarital Relationship With Colleague

The court noted that there was no apparent threat of the accused tampering with evidence or evading justice, emphasising that the purpose of bail is not to punish or preventively detain an individual. It ordered the man’s release on a personal bond of Rs 50,000, along with two sureties of the same amount.

The woman’s family had alleged that the husband was involved in an extramarital relationship with a colleague and had physically assaulted her when confronted. They also accused him of consistently abusing her and pressuring her to get money from her family to pay EMIs for a car he had bought.

However, the court pointed out that neither the woman nor her family had filed any such complaint while she was alive, thereby weakening the immediate credibility of the claims related to dowry harassment.