Published on : 08 Oct 2025, 11:22 am 6 min read

The Supreme Court’s decision in Shivangi Bansal v. Sahib Bansal (2025) by endorsing the Allahabad High Court’s “ cooling-off ” directions that bar arrests or coercive action for a period of two months and direct referral of cases to family-welfare committees, marks a significant shift in how the criminal justice system will treat allegations of cruelty within marriage.

At first blush, the order reads as a salutary protection against abuse of the law. In reality, however, it substitutes a blanket procedural pause for the careful, fact-sensitive balance the law requires. It removes the possibility of immediate police action even in cases where victims face imminent danger. That result has urgent consequences for gender justice,

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