The Supreme Court has acquitted a man convicted for cruelty under Section 498A IPC in connection with his wife's suicide, observing that a husband cannot be held guilty of cruelty merely because he did not speak to his wife for a few days.

A Bench of Justices J.K. Maheshwari and Atul S. Chandurkar said that disagreements and periods of non-communication are not uncommon in married life and, by themselves, do not amount to cruelty unless there is convincing evidence showing that such conduct was grave enough to drive a woman to suicide or seriously affect her mental health.

The appellant had been convicted by a trial court and the Madras High Court under Section 498A IPC and sentenced to three years' imprisonment. The conviction was primarily based on allegations that he had not spoken to his wife for 13 days before she died by suicide.

Setting aside the conviction, the Supreme Court observed:

"In the absence of any material, mere non-communication with the deceased for 13 days, without substantiating the same with cogent evidence, cannot, in any stretch of the imagination, fall within the ambit of cruelty in the facts of this case."

The Court noted that there was no evidence of any quarrel between the couple during the relevant period. It further found that the allegation of cruelty had not been proved beyond reasonable doubt, a factor that was overlooked by the High Court while affirming the conviction.

The woman had died by suicide by hanging while staying at her parental home. According to the prosecution, her family had given ₹3 lakh, 20 sovereigns of gold jewellery and other articles at the time of marriage. It was alleged that the husband demanded additional money from her parents and that his family members harassed her over dowry demands.

The prosecution also claimed that the husband was unhappy with her visiting her parents without informing his family and later refused to speak to her over the phone. This alleged non-communication was said to have caused her severe mental distress, eventually leading to her suicide.

Based on these allegations, a case was registered under Sections 498A and 304B IPC against the husband, his parents and two brothers. While all accused were acquitted of the dowry death charge, the husband was convicted under Section 498A IPC.

Examining the evidence, the Supreme Court found that the main allegation against the husband was his refusal to communicate with his wife for a period of 13 days. The Court reiterated that the burden was on the prosecution to establish cruelty beyond reasonable doubt and not on the accused to disprove the allegations.

The Bench also took note of findings that the woman could not accompany her husband to Muscat because passport and visa formalities had not been completed. In such circumstances, the Court held that the allegation of non-communication alone, without any other convincing evidence of harassment or cruelty, was insufficient to sustain a conviction under Section 498A IPC.

Accordingly, the Supreme Court allowed the appeal and acquitted the husband of all charges under Section 498A IPC.