AP High Court quashes 498A case against husband's brother, sister-in-law: no S.188 CrPC sanction for alleged acts in USA
The question: Whether a prosecution for a cruelty and dowry case can go on for acts alleged to have taken place in the USA without the previous sanction of the Central Government under Section 188 CrPC
The Andhra Pradesh High Court (Justice Tuhin Kumar Gedela) on 28 July 2026 allowed Criminal Petition No. 5220 of 2023 and quashed C.C. No. 2057 of 2021, pending before the Special Judicial Magistrate of First Class for Excise, Guntur, as against the brother and sister-in-law of the husband (accused Nos. 4 and 5). The Bench held that the allegations about incidents in the USA could not be pursued because no previous sanction of the Central Government had been obtained under Section 188 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and that the allegations about events in India were vague and omnibus and did not make out an offence under Section 498A or 506 read with Section 34 IPC, or under Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The complainant married the first accused on 5 July 2018 at Guntur. She joined him in the USA (October 2018) and led marital life there. The charge sheet alleges physical and mental harassment by the husband at the instigation of the other accused, that the brother-in-law and his wife harassed her while she was in the USA, and that the brother-in-law beat her in front of her husband. It further says she returned to India (Jan-2020), managed a student visa and went back to the USA in December 2020, and was sent back to India in May 2021. It alleges that all five accused demanded Rs.1 crore as additional dowry and threatened her with dire consequences. The charge sheet notes that the brother-in-law and his wife also work in the USA. The order was passed in Crl.P. No. 5220 of 2023 (CNR APHC010357032023). The full order can be found on the Andhra Pradesh High Court website under that case number.