New Delhi: While news of an IT professional in Bengaluru committing suicide after allegedly being harassed by his wife and in-laws is rife, another Supreme Court case has accused a woman of misuse of cruelty laws in a matrimonial dispute case filed against her husband. be opposed to. The Supreme Court on Tuesday said courts should be careful to prevent misuse of law in dowry harassment cases and avoid unnecessary trouble for innocent family members as this may implicate the husband’s relatives. A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N. Koteshwar Singh said that mentioning the names of family members should be suppressed from the outset in the absence of specific allegations that they were actively involved in criminal cases arising out of matrimonial disputes.
Has a tendency to implicate all members of the husband’s family
“From judicial experience, it is known that in the event of a marital dispute, all members of the husband’s family are often implicated. General and broad accusations without concrete evidence or specific accusations cannot form the basis of criminal prosecution,” the Supreme Court judge said. Therefore, the Supreme Court said that in such cases, courts must prevent abuse of legal provisions and legal procedures and protect innocent family members. Care should be taken to avoid unnecessary trouble.
The Supreme Court made this observation while quashing a Telangana High Court order that refused to quash a dowry harassment case filed by a woman against her husband, parents and other family members. The Supreme Court said the purpose of incorporating Section 498A into the Indian Penal Code (IPC) through amendment is to prevent abuse of women by their husbands and their families and ensure timely intervention by the state.
Marital disputes increased significantly
“However, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in marital disputes across the country and growing disharmony and tension within the institution of marriage and, accordingly, there has been a growing trend of abuses under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (husband against wife or abuse of such as Provisions such as kinship abuse create a personal vendetta against the husband and his family. “The court said that if vague and general allegations are not investigated during a matrimonial dispute, there will be abuse of process and treatment by the legitimate wife and her family. Suppression strategy. It also said, “We do not recommend for the time being that any company facing IPC Section 498A The article requires women who are abused to remain silent and refrain from filing a complaint or initiating any criminal proceedings.”
The judge said (all it had to say) that such cases should not be promoted. The bench said that the purpose of incorporating Section 498A is primarily to protect women who are subjected to abuse in the homes of their in-laws for illegally demanding any property as dowry. “However, sometimes it is misused, as happened in this case,” the Supreme Court said in dismissing the F.I.S., saying the wife’s reasons for personal vendetta against her husband and his family were legitimate reasons for filing the complaint. for hostility. (language)
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