New Delhi, May 7, 2025: The Supreme Court of India has quashed a FIR filed by a woman who alleged that her husband and in-laws deceived her into marriage by falsely claiming he was an eye surgeon, while he was in fact an optometrist and also suffered from a skin condition [Rohan & Ors v. The State of Gujarat & Ors].
A Bench comprising Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K Vinod Chandran held that the materials on record, including WhatsApp chats between the couple, clearly indicated that there was no element of deception or concealment on the part of the husband.
“From all reasonable assumptions as well as the documents which have been placed before us, it is clear that the complainant had full knowledge that the appellant was suffering from skin disease and he was not an Eye Surgeon but an Optometrist,” the Bench observed.
The case stemmed from a police complaint lodged by the woman just months after her marriage to the petitioner, Rohan, in April 2023. She alleged that she had been misled into believing he was a qualified eye surgeon and that his leukoderma, a visible skin condition, had been deliberately concealed prior to the marriage.
However, the Supreme Court found these claims to be unsubstantiated, emphasizing that there was no deliberate attempt to mislead or disguise facts about either the petitioner’s profession or health condition. The justices remarked that pursuing the FIR further would amount to an abuse of the legal process.
The Court also criticized the Gujarat High Court’s decision, which had previously refused to quash the FIR. Allowing the appeal, the Supreme Court set aside the High Court’s order and dismissed the criminal proceedings initiated by the woman.
