Booked In Section 498A Case, Actor Hansika Motwani Moves Bombay High Court For Quashing FIR

The Bombay High Court on Thursday issued notice on a petition filed by actor Hansika Motwani and her mother Jyoti Motwani, by which the duo have sought to quash the First Information Report (FIR) lodged against them on charges of cruelty under section section 498-A, at the behest of her sister-in-law Muskan James.

A division bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Shriram Modak issued the notice and adjourned the hearing till July 3.

Hansika along with her mother has urged the bench to quash the FIR lodged against them in December 2024 by Muskan, who married her brother Prashant Motwani in December 2020. The couple parted ways in December 2022.

Notably, the actor and her mother are booked under charges of cruelty (section 498-a), criminal intimidation (section 506), intentional insult (section 504) and causing hurt (section 323) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

After being booked in the case, the actress and her mother were granted anticipatory bail in February 2025 by a sessions court in Mumbai. They have now petitioned the High Court with a prayer to quash the FIR.

Hansika and Jyoti filed their writ petitions through advocates Drishti Khurana and Adnan Shaikh, respectively. 

In her plea, Hansika has contended that she is being roped in the present proceedings only because she is the sister-in-law of Muskan and to mount pressure on the Motwani family to enter into a financial settlement for parting ways. 

"The allegations levelled against the petitioners are baseless, motivated, and arise out of domestic disputes that have been exaggerated to bring them under the purview of criminal prosecution. The petitioners had no direct involvement in the alleged marital issues between Muskan and her husband Prashant and that they (Hansika and her mother) were roped in solely because they are related to Prashant. The FIR appears to be a retaliatory measure aimed at pressuring the Motwani family into a financial settlement in the ongoing matrimonial dispute," the petitions reads. 

Further it is claimed in the petition that Muskan filed the instant FIR against Hansika and Jyoti only after she refused to agree to a mutual divorce. This, the actress has claimed, shows how the criminal proceedings are being misused as a leverage in the ongoing matrimonial litigation.