‘Criminal law can’t be weapon in civil claims’: Karnataka High Court cancels property case

Notably, Shruthi filed the complaint after initiating a partition suit for the division of her father’s property at a Bengaluru civil court.

The elderly widow, who lives alone, had faced severe harassment after her daughter’s complaint, her lawyer Thejaswini G told the High Court. She presented photographs showing persons appearing to be hired gangsters frequenting her home, arguing that repeated police visits caused fear rather than a sense of safety.

Mythili had approached the commissioner of police, the State Human Rights Commission, and the Elderly Helpline about facing “continuous harassment”, the lawyer added.

Opposing her mother’s petition, Shruthi argued that the plea was premature since the investigation was still at a nascent stage, contending that no prejudice would be caused if the probe was allowed to continue.

Unwanted intrusion into family dispute

Justice Nagaprasanna said the entire controversy was rooted in an inheritance and property dispute, a domain where civil law reigns supreme.

“Once the dispute has entered the exclusive province of the civil forum, an intervention of the police by setting the criminal law in motion amounts to an unwarranted intrusion into what is essentially a private familial dispute,” the bench said.

The judges added, “Her complaint paints a picture of an elderly widow living alone, besieged by threats emanating not merely from familial discord but… from the active involvement of police personnel and unknown persons acting at the behest of the complainant. The tenor of her representation leaves little room for doubt that she apprehended not merely litigation, but an imminent threat to her life and dignity.”

The court emphasised that if Shruthi believes she is entitled to a share in her late father’s estate, her remedy lies in the civil court, a route she has already taken. “Criminal law cannot be permitted to become a weapon in aid of civil claims or a lever to secure bargaining power in a pending partition suit,” the court said.

The High Court also observed that the facts presented a foundation for the mother to consider legal action against her daughter.

“The facts of the case, at least prima facie, present a compelling foundation for the petitioner (mother) to contemplate proceedings for malicious prosecution against her own daughter… Whether such proceedings are to be instituted is a matter resting entirely within the mother’s discretion,” the order stated.

Allowing the petition, the court concluded, “The present criminal proceedings, founded as they are upon a dispute already pending before the civil court, would constitute nothing but an abuse of the process of law and cannot be permitted to survive even for a fleeting moment.”