New Delhi, Nov 4 (IANS) The Delhi High Court has cautioned against the “growing tendency” to misuse Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by indiscriminately implicating distant relatives of husbands in matrimonial disputes without any proof of their direct involvement.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Amit Mahajan observed while quashing an FIR registered under Sections 498A, 406 and 34 of the IPC against the husband’s ‘maasi’ (maternal aunt) and her daughter in a dowry harassment case lodged by the wife.

The Delhi High Court noted that the petitioners did not reside with the complainant-wife or her husband and that the allegations against them were “vague, generic and omnibus” in nature.

“Mere taunts, casual references, vague assertions or general family friction that occur in th

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