HC stays FIR against accused in Vadodara interfaith marriage case

According to the FIR, when the man had come to the complainant’s house to pick up the latter’s daughter, a scuffle broke out between father-in-law and the man when he accused his son-in-law of beating his daughter. The complainant suffered minor injuries in the incident, the FIR said.

Less than three weeks after the incident, the complainant moved the Gujarat HC with a petition seeking “consent quashing” of the FIR.

The accused was earlier granted relief by the Gujarat HC in relation to a June 2021 FIR filed at the Gotri police station in Vadodara, where he was charged for the offences punishable under the provisions of the Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 — the first FIR filed under the amended Act.

The man and other accused were granted bail by the Gujarat HC in a petition moved by the man and his wife seeking consensual quashing of the FIR.

While the June 2021 FIR lodged on the complaint by the accused man’s wife had alleged that she was subjected to “forcible conversion”, “casteist slurs”, “forcible sexual intercourse”, and “domestic violence” by her husband, the woman had informed the court subsequently that the FIR lodged was “incorrect” and “exaggerated version of the information” given by the woman complainant and that the couple wishes to continue with their marital relation.