New Delhi, July 23 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer to issue an unconditional public apology, both in print and on social media, to her former husband and his family, after they endured months of incarceration due to multiple criminal cases filed by her during a protracted matrimonial dispute. Noting that the husband had spent 109 days in jail and his father 103 days owing to the allegations, a bench led by Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and justice AG Masih said: "What they have suffered cannot be resituated or compensated in any manner." The court said a public apology was necessary as a form of moral restitution for the "physical and mental trauma" caused. The officer and her parents were ordered to publish a detailed apology in one national English and one Hindi newspaper, and to circulate it across social media platforms within three days. The format of the apology was prescribed by the court and is not to be altered in any manner. The 2022-batch IPS officer had instituted 15 separate cases and proceedings, including those invoking serious charges of cruelty, attempt to murder and rape, among others. Additionally, there were separate proceedings under the Domestic Violence Act. The family also battled it out in family courts over divorce, maintenance and custody of their girl child. Senior counsel Sidharth Luthra and Vikas Singh appeared for the wife and the man respectively. Both the husband and the woman had filed for divorce after they separated in 2018, and both sides had moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of various cases to their respective jurisdictions. The top court was hearing these transfer petitions when it chose to invoke its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to settle the long-standing legal battle. The court not only ordered the apology but mandated a specific form and wording, which includes the woman expressing regret on behalf of herself and her parents for the pain caused to her former in-laws....