The Supreme Court has made a major comment on two laws related to crimes against women. The Supreme Court has described Section 498A of the IPC and the Domestic Violence Act as one of the most ‘misused’ laws. A bench of Justice BR Gavai, Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice KV Vishwanathan made this comment while hearing a case related to alimony.
Justice Gavai, while referring to one such old case, said that in such cases, getting rid of the matter is the best thing.
Justice Gavai said, ‘I saw a case in Nagpur where a boy went to America and had to pay Rs 50 lakh without marrying his wife. He did not stay with her even for a day. I openly say that domestic violence and section 498A are misused the most.’
Questions have often been raised on Section 498A of the IPC. It is believed that women use this section to implicate their husbands and in-laws in criminal cases.
During the hearing of a similar case in May this year, the Supreme Court had asked the government to amend the existing law. At that time, the Indian Penal Code (BNS), which replaced the IPC, was not implemented. Section 498A of the IPC protects women from cruelty by their husbands and their relatives. This provision has been made in Sections 85 and 86 of the Indian Penal Code.
Questions have been raised on 498A earlier also
However, this is not the first time that the court has raised questions on the misuse of 498A. Just last month, the Bombay High Court expressed concern over the misuse of 498A and said that even grandparents and bedridden people are being implicated. In May, the Kerala High Court said that wives often register such cases against their husbands and their family members to take revenge.
The Supreme Court has also expressed concern over the misuse of 498A many times. In July 2017, the Supreme Court had banned immediate arrest to prevent the misuse of 498A. Then the Supreme Court had directed that the police can take action of arrest only after investigation.
In 2022 also, the Supreme Court had issued some instructions regarding this. Then the Supreme Court had said, if a woman has been subjected to cruelty, then she will also have to tell about the persons who committed the cruelty. The Supreme Court had said that the victim woman will have to clearly tell at what time and on which day the husband and her in-laws have done cruelty to her. Just by saying that she has been subjected to cruelty, it does not become a case of Section 498A.
In July last year, the Jharkhand High Court had said that Section 498A was introduced to protect married women from cruelty by their husbands and in-laws, but now it is being misused.
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After all, what are these two laws?
– Section 498A, now section 85 and 86 of BNS
BNS has been implemented in place of IPC from July 1. Section 85 and 86 of BNS have replaced Section 498A of IPC. However, there is no change in its provisions.
If a married woman is subjected to any kind of ‘cruelty’ by her husband or her in-laws, it would be a crime under Section 85 of the BNS.
Cruelty can be both physical and mental. Physical cruelty includes beating a woman. Mental cruelty includes behavior like torturing, taunting, harassing her. If any such act is done intentionally which provokes the wife to commit suicide, it is also considered cruelty. Apart from this, demanding any property from the wife or any person related to her in an illegal manner is also considered cruelty.
Under this section, if found guilty, the person can be imprisoned for up to three years. Apart from this, a fine can also be imposed on the culprits.
– Domestic Violence Laws
This law was introduced in 2005 to protect a woman from domestic violence. All women who live in a shared household may be mother, sister, wife, daughter or widow. Women living in live-in relationships are also included in it.
Under the law, the health, safety, life, body parts or mental condition of a woman living in a shared household cannot be harmed. This law includes physical, mental, verbal, emotional, economic and sexual violence. Financial harassment means that if a husband or son forcibly asks for money or any thing from his wife or mother for expenses, then that woman can file a case under the Domestic Violence Act.
Not only this, a married woman cannot be harassed for dowry. Also, the woman or the people related to her cannot be abused, threatened or intimidated.
Only a woman can file a complaint under this law. In Section 2(A) of this law, only a woman is considered as a ‘victim’. That is, no man can file a complaint against a woman under this law.
Under this law, both male and female relatives of a man are included. Understand it this way that if a woman is facing domestic violence in her in-laws’ house, then she can file a complaint against her husband as well as her mother-in-law, father-in-law and husband’s sister.
Under this law, the Magistrate Court issues orders. There are many types of orders in it. The Magistrate can order to provide shelter, residence and medical facilities to the victim woman.
Why do questions arise?
The misuse of these two laws has been questioned from lower courts to the Supreme Court. That is because women often resort to these laws to put pressure on their husbands or their relatives.
In May this year, in a divorce case, the Supreme Court had ordered the cancellation of the 498A case filed against the husband. Actually, the husband had filed a divorce petition against the wife. After this, the wife had filed a case against the husband under many sections including Section 498A. The High Court had refused to cancel the case filed under Section 498A. After this, the matter reached the Supreme Court.
Similarly, questions are raised on the Domestic Violence Act because it applies only to women, not to men. Only a man can be made an accused under this law. While hearing a case in February last year, the Delhi High Court had made it clear that under this law, the male member of the family, especially the husband, does not come under the purview of protection.
It is often argued that whether a husband beats or commits violence against his wife or a wife beats or commits violence against her husband, it is a crime in both cases, but the domestic violence law protects only the wife. If a wife beats or commits violence or tortures her husband or harasses him in any way, it is not considered domestic violence.
Not only this, questions are raised on these laws because their conviction rate is very low. According to the NCRB report, the conviction rate in Domestic Violence Act and Section 498A is only 18%. That is, in the remaining cases, the accused are acquitted.
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Is there no violence against the husband?
In June 2021, while hearing a case between a husband and wife, the Madras High Court made an important comment. The High Court had said that it is unfortunate that the husband does not have a law like domestic violence to complain against his wife.
According to the data of National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5), 10 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 49 have at some point raised their hands on their husbands, that too when their husbands did not commit any violence against them.
During this survey, there were 11 percent women who admitted that they had committed violence against their husbands in the last one year.
According to the survey, the number of women committing violence against their husbands increases with age. Less than 1% of women aged 18 to 19 years committed violence against their husbands. Whereas, about 3% of women aged 20 to 24 years committed violence against their husbands. Similarly, 3.4% of women aged 25 to 29 years, 3.9% of women aged 30 to 39 years and 3.7% of women aged 40 to 49 years beat their husbands.
Statistics also show that women living in rural areas are more likely to face violence from their husbands than women living in cities. Women living in urban areas are 3.3%, while women living in rural areas are 3.7%.
What can the husband do?
If the wife is torturing him in any way, then in such a case the husband can seek divorce under Section 13 of the Hindu Marriage Act. This section says that if the other party is committing cruelty, physical or mental violence against the applicant, then he can seek divorce.
Apart from this, if the wife leaves the house without any reason and does not return, then in such a case the husband can file an application in the district court under section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act and demand that the court order the wife to be sent back home. Under this section, the wife can also make such a demand if her husband leaves the house and goes somewhere else.
Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act also provides that in such a case, the person leaving the house has to prove to the court why he left the house.
A husband can also file a case against his wife under BNS section 227. If the husband feels that his wife or any other person is presenting false evidence against him in the court or police, then he can file a case claiming that the evidence being presented to prosecute him is false.
If the wife threatens to harm her husband or his family or his property, a case can be registered under Section 351 of the CrPC.
Moreover, if the wife files a false case under Section 498A of IPC or Section 85 of BNS alleging dowry harassment, the husband can file a case against the wife and demand to produce evidence of dowry harassment.
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