I see the two situations as quite different. Raghav smeared Pallavi for something that he knew she hadn't done (casual affair with him). That is character assassination. Now Raghav has been exposed for something that he knows he did (adultery). That is not character assassination.
Karma didn't backfire on Raghav. He isn't getting paid back in his own fraudulent coin here. Raghav is being shown to his family and in-laws as he really is. In Raghav's words, he got carried away by emotions and went ahead, drunkenly pretending that another woman was Pallavi. He knows he is guilty, but he wants it to be a secret.
Another difference, of course, is male privilege.
Raghav could quite shamelessly talk about enjoying sex with no commitment, touching Pallavi however he wants to; here are photographs of us naked together; this is the first time I've named one of my sexual partners; these are our pet names for each other... As a man, Raghav knew that there would be no embarrassment for him. Polite society wouldn't shun him, because boys will be boys, but the woman would be judged. Pallavi was thrown out of her family and Jaya thought to make Pallavi respectable through marriage to Raghav, the man who had smeared her. Male privilege meant that Raghav could still accept a marriage proposal from that Telugu actress, the decent girl, if he felt like it.
In contrast with that shamelessness of Raghav's male privilege, the woman accusing Raghav had to use the euphemism: what happened between us was the act that occurs between a husband and wife. If she hadn't claimed that consecration of her sexual behaviour, she would have been branded a ___.
Raghav raised his hand to strike a woman for telling the truth. Why? Because he believes in male privilege. When this woman left him for another man, Raghav thought he had the right to strangle her. Now that he wants to keep their affair a secret, if she speaks up, he assumes the right to strike her.
In both situations, Pallavi was humiliated - first as a woman who allowed herself to be used for a price, and now as a wife whose husband didn't bother to be faithful. Whatever Raghav suffers now is not vindication for Pallavi, because she is suffering more.
Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi 2
