Rapping the police for rushing to file a charge sheet in a matrimonial dispute where the couple was in the process of settling the matter, the Bombay high court on Thursday directedthat they be more sensitive while dealing with suchissues.

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While quashing the FIR against the husband, a division bench of justice AM Khanwilkar and justice RG Ketkar has asked the home department to initiate a departmental inquiry against the investigating officer.

“This is a matrimonial dispute. Why did the police hasten to file charge sheet when the woman said she doesn’t want to pursue the case. The police doesn’t show the same speed while investigating genuine cases,” remarked justice Khanwilkar while quashing the FIR.

The court was hearing a petition filed by the husband seeking quashing of the complaint registered against him by his estranged wife who is a television actor and a model. The couple was married in December 2006.

According to the petition, the wife, due to her profession, could not adjust to conditions in the matrimonial home which caused disputes with her husband. She left the house in July 2007 and the couple decided to settle the dispute amicably, filing consent terms before the family court in 2008.

However, in January 2010, the wife filed a complaint with the Oshiwara police station. The petition alleges that the complaint was filed only with the intention to delay the family court proceedings and exert pressure. “The FIR has been registered by way of pressure tactics and/or cause extortion of amounts from petitioners,” states the petition.

Filing the petition two-and-half-years after the filing of consent terms shows that “the FIR has been filed only with the intention to blackmail the petitioner and with malafide intentions and is purely an abuse of law”.