New Delhi, Feb 3: A Delhi court on Tuesday refused to take cognisance of a chargesheet filed against Uttar Pradesh’s Kunda MLA Raghuraj Pratap Singh, popularly known as Raja Bhaiya, in a case alleging cruelty toward his wife. The court observed that reviving decades-old allegations through criminal proceedings would serve no legal purpose.
Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashwani Panwar was hearing Delhi Police’s plea seeking cognisance of a final report filed under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with cruelty by a husband or his relatives toward a married woman. The magistrate said the court was not satisfied that the essential ingredients of the offence were made out at a prima facie level.
“The court is of the view that the allegations raised by the complainant are barred by limitation and do not justify taking cognisance of the alleged offence,” the order noted. It added that unless there is a recent act establishing cruelty, criminal law cannot be invoked to resurrect very old accusations.
The court said a close reading of the FIR indicated that the primary allegations of physical violence related to an incident said to have occurred in 2015. It noted that from the year of marriage in 1995 until the alleged incident in 2015, there were no specific accusations of physical cruelty.
The FIR was registered in March 2025 at Safdarjung Enclave police station in Delhi, reflecting a significant time gap. The court further recorded that the parties had been living separately for several years, from 2017 to 2025, prior to the filing of the complaint.
Holding that there was no sufficient ground to proceed, the court concluded that taking cognisance of the alleged offence was not warranted.
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