Andhra Pradesh High Court: NRI Husband’s Plea to Quash 498A Proceedings Rejected

In Venkat Perumal v. State of Andhra Pradesh, II (1998) DMC 523, the Andhra Pradesh High Court dealt with a petition filed by an NRI husband seeking to quash criminal proceedings initiated by his wife under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for matrimonial cruelty.

The wife had alleged that she faced harassment, humiliation, and torture during her short stay with her husband both in Madras and in the United States. When she refused to terminate her pregnancy as demanded by her husband, she was allegedly abandoned penniless at Dallas Airport. With the help of her aunt, she returned to India, and due to the severe mental trauma and humiliation suffered, she later miscarried in Hyderabad.

The High Court observed that the acts of cruelty and mental harassment constituted a “continuing offence” under Section 498A IPC, extending even to her stay with her parents in Hyderabad. Therefore, the Court rejected the husband’s contention that prior sanction from the Central Government under Section 188 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) was necessary to prosecute an offence committed partly outside India. It clarified that such sanction, if required, could be obtained during trial and was not a condition precedent for initiating proceedings.

The Court also refused to attach weight to the divorce decree granted by a U.S. court, noting that the wife had already filed her FIR before the foreign decree was issued.

This judgment reinforces the Indian judiciary’s firm stance that cruelty in NRI marriages is not extinguished by geography, and that mental and emotional abuse remain actionable even when part of the conduct occurs abroad.