NEW DELHI: in an exceedingly first, the Supreme Court on weekday permitted subsidence of cases under Section 498A of IPC lodged by a lady against her husband and in-laws for alleged cruelty in her matrimonial home.
Though it was enacted to guard girls from harassment and cruelty, there has been judicial recognition of the fact that on several occasions, false complaints under Section 498A were filed to teach the husband and his relatives a lesson as these cases were non-compoundable and bail was difficult to urge.
"We feel that though offense punishable under Section 498A of the IPC is not compoundable, in applicable cases, if the parties are willing and if it appears to the judicature that there exists parts of settlement, it should direct the parties to explore the chance of settlement through mediation," a bench of Justices Aftab Alam and Ranjana P Desai aforesaid.
"If there is settlement, the parties are going to be saved from the trials and tribulations of a criminal case which can scale back the burden on the courts which can be in the larger public interest," aforesaid Justice Desai, who authored the judgment on behalf of the bench.
"During mediation, the halfies will either arrange to part company on reciprocally agreed terms or they will arrange to patch up and rest. In either case, for the settlement to return through, the criticism can have to be quashed. therein event, they'll approach the judicature and obtain the criticism quashed. If, however, they choose not to settle, they'll proceed with the criticism. in this exercise, there is no loss to anyone," the bench aforesaid.
The judgment came in an exceedingly case wherever a couple|a handful|some} separated simply two days after marriage as a row between the oldsters of the bride and groom resulted in an exceedingly massive ego battle leading to a legal fight that lasted for 10 years.
During the time they were separated, the woman made several false complaints against her husband and his father, together with a derogatory criticism that she was asked by her mother to bed her father-in-law. once the court found it to be false, she aforesaid it was a trial to pressurize her husband to require her back.
The bench aforesaid, "This statement cannot be explained away by stating that it was made because the woman was anxious to go back to the husband. this can be not the way to win the husband back. it's well settled that such statements cause mental cruelty. By causing this criticism, the woman has caused mental cruelty to the husband."
It aforesaid the judicature erred by ruling that mental cruelty may be caused providing the husband and woman stayed under one roof. "Staying together under constant roof is not a pre-condition for mental cruelty. spouse equivalent will cause mental cruelty by his or her conduct even while he or she is not staying under constant roof," Justice Desai aforesaid.
"In a given case, while staying away, a spouse equivalent will cause mental cruelty to the opposite spouse equivalent by causing denigrating letters or notices or filing complaints containing indecent allegations or by initiating range of judicial proceedings making the opposite spouse's life miserable. this can be what has happened in this case," she additional.
The bench aforesaid years of false and frivolous complaints had irretrievably softened the wedding between the parties. It asked the husband to pay Rs fifteen lakh as maintenance for grant of divorce.
"Irretrievable breakdown of marriage is not a ground for divorce under the Hindu marriage Act, 1955. however wherever marriage is on the far side repair on account of bitterness created by the acts of the husband or the woman or each, the courts have perpetually taken unrecoverable breakdown of marriage as a very weighty circumstance amongst others necessitating severance of matrimonial tie," the court aforesaid.
"A marriage that is dead for all purposes cannot be revived by the court's finding, if the parties are not willing. this can be because marriage involves human sentiments and emotions and if they're dried up, there is hardly any chance of their springing back to life on account of artificial reunion created by the court's decree," it added.
What is 498a?
Indian Penal Code 498a allows a woman and her family to make a written false complaint of dowry harassment to the police which results in the husband, his parents and relatives being immediately arrested without sufficient investigation and put behind bars without bail. Even if the 498a threat is false, you are presumed guilty until proven innocent.
498a can only be invoked by the wife or her relative. Most 498a cases are mere blackmail attempts by the wife or her close relatives. In most cases, a demand for a large sum of money is offered to the husband in exchange for settlement of the case out of court. There have been countless instances where, without any investigation, the police have arrested elderly parents, unmarried sisters, pregnant sister-in-laws and even 3 year old children. A typical case takes approximately 5-7 years and the conviction rate is only 2%.
There are fundamental problems with 498a in that it is 100% gender biased and singles out men as perpetrators of domestic violence and assumes that only women are victims.
In the United States domestic violence laws are gender neutral and provide protection to the victims, both men and women. If you reside in the United States please call us at (855)-WHY-498A today to set up an appointment with Mrs. Desai to provide you with a plan of action.
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