Section 498-A IPC Being Misused As A Weapon By Disgruntled Wives: Jharkhand High Court

Expressing its concern against misuse of Section 498A IPC, the Jharkhand High Court recently said that this provision of law is being misused as a weapon, rather than a shield, by 'disgruntled wives'. The bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi observed that such cases are being filed by the wife in the heat of the moment over trivial issues without proper deliberations. “With the laudable object of punishing cruelty at the hands of husband or his relatives, Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code was inserted in the statute. There is a phenomenal increase in matrimonial disputes in recent years and it appears that in many cases, the object of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code is being misused…Little matrimonial skirmishes suddenly erupt which often assume serious proportions resulting in the commission of heinous crimes in which elders of the family are falsely implicated by the wives,” the Court further added. The Court made these observations while quashing criminal proceedings initiated by the complainant-woman against her sister-in-law (husband's sister/nanad) and brother-in-law (Jija) on the allegations of committing torturous acts against her. Essentially, it was the case of the petitioners-accused before the Court that the complaint filed against them contains false allegations as on the day of the alleged incident (when torture is alleged to have been committed), they were travelling in a train and this fact itself falsifies the case against the petitioners. Taking note of the facts of the case and the complaint made against the petitioners, the Court noted that the petitioners are residing at Hyderabad, whereas, the alleged place of occurrence is at Dhanbad and on the alleged date of the incident, the petitioners were travelling in a train which suggests that false statements were made in the complaint. The Court also noted that the role played by these petitioners was not disclosed and there are only general and omnibus allegations against the petitioners. Against this backdrop, expressing its disappointment over the lodging of such false cases under Section 498A IPC, the Court quashed entire criminal proceedings including the order taking cognizance against the petitioners and allowed their plea.Also read: Section 498-A IPC Was Enacted To Punish Cruelty At Hands Of Husband Or His Relatives, It Is Now Being Misused: Jharkhand High Court Case title - Rakesh Rajput and another vs. The State of Jharkhand and another LL Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Jha) 78 Click Here To Read/Download Order

Section 498-A IPC Being Misused As A Weapon By Disgruntled Wives: Jharkhand High Court

Sparsh Upadhyay

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