'They Were Living Separately': Gujarat High Court Grants Anticipatory Bail To Police Personnel & His Wife Accused Of Harassing Daughter-in-Law

The Gujarat High Court has recently granted anticipatory bail to a public servant employed in the Police force and his wife, in a case of dowry harassment initiated at the instance of their daughter in law.

Justice Nikhil S Kariel observed that merely because the accused father-in-law is in Police is no ground to deny him anticipatory bail and adequate conditions can be imposed to prevent tampering of evidence. In fact, the bench was of the view that the father-in-law being a public servant, there could not be any apprehension that he would flee from trial. 

The Bench also observed that though allegations of harassment were levelled, however, the accused father-in-law and mother-in-law "more or less were residing separately".

"It may have been that during the time when the applicant No.1, was facing proceedings under the Prevention of Corruption Act, that he may have lived with his son and her daughter-in-law, but at the same time the documents relied upon by the applicants which are not controverted by the complainant clearly reflect that the daughter of the complainant and her husband were staying independently."

The case was an upshot of the daughter-in-law going missing, leaving a suicide note behind in 2021. The applicants were accused of offences under Sections 498(A), 377, 323, 294(B), 506(2) and 114 of IPC and Sections 3 and 7 of the Dowry Prohibition Act.

The applicants averred that the daughter-in-law and their son last lived together in a property purchased in her name from 2018 onwards. Meanwhile, the father-in-law was working in the Gujarat Police force and was working across the state and therefore, had visited his son and family but had not lived with his daughter-in-law.