The Delhi High Court emphasized the importance of thorough scrutiny by courts in assessing complaints or FIRs filed by wives against their husbands or their families. This scrutiny is necessary to discern whether the allegations hold elements of truth or are merely a result of "clever drafting."

The High Court emphasized that, while it is not required to conduct a mini-trial, it cannot simply be a passive observer. It must be willing to exercise its power to quash a criminal case if it determines that allowing the proceedings to continue would undermine the principles of justice and lead to unbearable harassment, agony, and suffering for the accused.

The High Court asserted that such actions would constitute an abuse of the criminal process.

Justice Navin Chawla highlighted that when a wife intends to involve the entire family of her husband in a criminal case, it's reasonable to anticipate that she would have her lawyer draft a complaint meticulously, with specific allegations against each individual involved.

The High Court emphasized that it would be a miscarriage of justice if the mere submission of such allegations led to the family members of the husband enduring the ordeal of trial without due consideration of the evidence presented.

"In my opinion, therefore, the court must scrutinise the complaint/FIR to determine whether the allegations are a case of clever drafting or have at least some element of truth in the same" Justice Chawla said.

The High Court made these remarks while quashing an FIR filed by a man's estranged wife against his maternal uncle and aunt. The allegations in the FIR pertained to offenses of cruelty towards a married woman and criminal breach of trust under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The FIR alleged that since the inception of the marriage, the woman had been subjected to harassment and physical abuse by her husband and his relatives. The court observed that despite the marriage taking place in 1997, the FIR was lodged in 2017, a span of 23 years.

The husband's maternal uncle and aunt sought the quashing of the FIR against them, arguing that they had maintained separate residences from their nephew and his wife throughout, and their inclusion in the case was solely due to their familial relation to him.

In its order, the High Court mentioned that the allegations leveled against the husband's family members were predominantly general and lacked specificity.

The High Court granted the petition and subsequently quashed the FIR along with any related proceedings against the man's relatives.