‘Where would person go to satisfy sexual urges’: Allahabad HC quashes dowry FIR

The Allahabad High Court quashed the dowry charges against a man and ruled that the allegations in the case were likely motivated by personal disputes and asked “where would a person go to satisfy their physical and sexual urges” if not their partner in a “morally civilised society,” reported the news agency PTI on Saturday, October 12.
Justice Anish Kumar Gupta dismissed the case against Pranjal Shukla and two others after finding the evidence presented in the FIR and witness statements not supporting the claims of the dowry harassment, as per the report.
The High Court said that the primary allegations centred around disagreements related to the couple’s sexual relationship and the wife’s refusal to engage in certain activities. The court concluded that the disputes were not indicative of dowry demands and were more likely driven by personal differences, reported the agency.
“It is apparent that the dispute is with regard to the sexual incompatibility of the parties for which the dispute was there between the parties and due to the said dispute the instant FIR has been lodged by the opposite party making out the false and concocted allegations with regard to the demand of dowry,” said Allahabad High Court, according to the agency report.
The FIR accused Shukla of demanding dowry and engaging in abusive behaviour, including forcing his wife to watch porn and engage in unnatural sex. The court found that the allegations were not supported by credible evidence, as per the report.
“If a man were to demand sexual favors from his own wife and vice versa, where would they go to satisfy their physical sexual urges in a morally civilized society?” the court asked, as per the agency.
Meesha Shukla got married to the applicant, Pranjal Shukla, on December 7, 2015, as per Hindu rites and customs. Meesha Shukla lodged an FIR alleging that her in-laws, namely Madhu Sharma and Punya Sheel Sharma, demanded dowry. It was stated in the FIR that prior to marriage, there was no demand for money, according to the news agency.
According to the FIR, Meesha Shukla claimed that Pranjal used to drink and watch porn films and used to insist on unnatural sex with her wife, and when she used to object to the same, he did not pay any heed to her objections. It also said that the applicant left his wife and went to Singapore alone, as per the agency.
Vinay Saran, a senior advocate and counsel for Pranjal, submitted that the claims in the FIR, as well as the statements of his wife, are with regard to their physical relationship and the unnatural sexual activities by the applicant, as per the agency report.
The assaults which are alleged in the wife’s statement are with regard to non-fulfilment of the sexual urges of the applicant and not for any cruelty meted out for demand of dowry, as per the report.
“From the close scrutiny of the FIR as well as the statement of the victim, the torture or any assault, if any, is meted out not for any demand of dowry but on refusal of the opposite party to fulfil the sexual urges of the applicant,” said the Court, as per the agency report.
The Allahabad High Court on October 3 quashed the case against Pranjal Shukla and said, “In the considered opinion of this court, the instant FIR is nothing but a concocted story of demand of dowry by making general and vague allegations against the applicants herein,” according to the report.