Section 498A of I P C

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The section 498A of I P C has started taking its toll not only in terms of Lives but also destroying the very fabric of Institution of Indian Family. Nowadays parents of a Boy or a Man are scared of Section 498 A of I P Code so much so that they are distancing themselves from their Son forever after his marriage. So Fear of invocation of 498a by wife of newlywed man is often left to his fate practically by his Parents, and siblings.

Section 498A of The Indian Penal Code

498A. Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty.—Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation.—For the purpose of this section, “cruelty” means—

(a) any wilful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or

(b) harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.]

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Detached from his roots emotionally he has no opportunity to share his feelings. That is why more and more married men are getting victimized day by day. Incidences of a Techie from Bangalore or an IPS man from Mumbai are tip of the ice berg. There are so many cases going unreported for obvious reasons. AND, Truly speaking, Section 498A does not empower women but ruin a woman’s life in practice.

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A woman who gets educated through TV channels other visible media about her ‘Rights’ against her husband naturally has more inclination to pull the ‘issue’ till it reaches its end. Even though a ‘fighting’ woman pretends ‘braveness’ she suffers more than what she suffered at the hands of her husband.

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Problem with 498A is that the Section empowers Police more than what it does to a Woman. Police department is manned by the Government.

This section makes the Government step into the shoes of Judiciary through the Police force. Police are not educated in either Sociology or Psychology or Law. Police forces are recruited from people who can be called ‘barely literate ‘. With this Section 498A , Police become arbiters to decide about a marital dispute. Entire case revolves around investigations carried out by the Police. So investigation by the Police sets the course of the CASE in a court of Law.

Whereas Law does not accept Police Evidence as evidence unless it leads to incriminating evidence. So, normally in many a criminal case filed by the Police, 85% of the accused get acquitted.

Moreover, confessions made by the accused before police are not acceptable as evidence under Law. This shows that evidence gathered by the Police do not stand the test of Law Courts. Making 498A so much powerful, The Government is undermining the Jurisdiction of Judiciary. Then why Legislation empowering the Police enacted by the way of 498A by the Government ?

Problem with 498A is that the section empowers not women but Police. Police become arbiters to decide about a marital dispute and their investigation sets the course of the CASE in a court of Law. ( Police are not educated in either Sociology or Psychology or Law ). It should be noted that in normal criminal cases filed by the Police 85% of the accused ( By the Police ) get acquitted. This shows that evidence gathered by the Police do not stand the test of Law Courts. More over confessions made by the accused before police are not acceptable as evidence under Law. Then why Legislation empowering the Police enacted by the way of 498A by the Government ? It is taking its toll not only in terms of Lives but also already destroyed the very fabric of Institution of Indian Family.

Responses to my letter from readers of TOI are as follows:

Agree (26)Disagree (0)Recommend (11)Offensive

For fear of invocation of 498a by his wife newly wed man after marriage is left to his fate practically by his Parents, and siblings . Detached from his roots emotionally he has no opportunity to share his feelings. That is why more and more men are getting victimized day by day.

Responses to my letter from readers of TOI are as follows:

Agree (14)Disagree (0)Recommend (13)Offensive

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If the ill fated Father in law and Mother in law did not commit suicide media and police would have painted this episode as another dowry harassment case and or domestic violence. Now the story is head lined as ‘ daughter in laws’ false complaint ! But, It would be prejudicial to say if it is suicide or murder. After investigation and prolonged trial of the case only truth will be established. Now it is all police story at First Information Report stage. Police story should not be published as Journalist’s news. For, only 45 percent of the accused in police cases are convicted. We should not be swayed by the news emotionally.

Responses to my letter from readers of TOI are as follows:

Agree (11)Disagree (1)Recommend (6)Offensive

The above letters were written by me in response to a news item in Times of India dt. Captioned: “Daughter-in-law’s false complaint drives elderly couple to suicide”, dt. 20.5.13 in TOI.

Offences under 498A are bailable. But problem with these sections is that they are made Cognizable. Cognizable offences are those offences which invite 3 Years and above sentencing if convicted. If these offences are made to invite less than 3 years imprisonment then it becomes non – cognizable. Police can arrest a person without a warrant when it is cognizable offence. So we must ask for making these offences non cognizable. If it is made so then Police have to take permission from Law Courts to arrest a person. Then, no wife would make any complaint, because she cannot take revenge against her husband effectively unless it is police case.

Above letter was written by me in response to a news item “Yukta Mookhey’s hubby gets interim court relief” in TOI dt 16.7.13. A sessions court on Monday granted interim relief till July 19 to former beauty queen Yukta Mookhey’s estranged husband after she filed a case of cruelty against him and her in-laws.

It is the Badmashi of Legislators because the Acts were passed by Legislators in the name of protection for women. Is young Wife only woman on this earth ? Is the mother of a man, who lost her life along with her husband, not a woman ?

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Responses to my letter from readers of TOI are as follows:

Agree (8)Disagree (0)Recommend (6)Offensive

The above letters were written by me in response to a news item in Times of India dt. Captioned: Techie ends life, names wife, mom-in-law dt 11.4.13.

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Laws against Husbands and their relations are termed by most of the people as Legal terrorism. But it is not so. Let us have clarity about the Laws and Judiciary. Government, Judiciary, Legislatures are different organs of the State. Sections 498 A (cruelty), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 377 (unnatural sex) of Criminal procedure code are not Legal terrorism. But, these sections are manifestation of Government terrorism. Police are force arm of the Government. Judiciary which is supposed to save people from Government terrorism cannot do so because our courts are not Justice Courts but Law courts. I think these sections are brought into force by the Governments through Legislation to demoralize men and ultimately to destroy Indian Family systems. Section 498A side line Law Courts, that is, Judiciary and thereby make Police arbiters of a dispute between a Wife and Husband. Entry and use of Police force by the Government to settle disputes in conjugal relations undermines and destroys the very essence of Marriage and Family system of India. It makes useless the existing Family courts, not to speak of arbitration of Family elders. It reduces Conjugal bonds into business relations. That is through these sections of Cr P C Government stepped into the shoes of the Judiciary. Hence this is not Judicial terrorism on the institution of Family but a Government terrorism.

Responses from readers of TOI: Agree (5), Disagree 0, Recommend (3), Offensive 0

And one Mr. Verbotene Liebe (Bengaluru) replies to Janardhan Prasad like this in TOI:

Sir, we need people like you to write more in digital media, Kindly keep writing.Indian mentality is based out of women sentiments. They fail to see that there are women in India who misuses the laws more, than it is actually being used by the real victims.

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The following letter was written by me in response to a news item in Times of India dt. Captioned: “Daughter-in-law’s false complaint drives elderly couple to suicide”, dt. 20.5.13 in TOI.

Through Section 498a Government not only stepped into the shoes of Judiciary but also Government indirectly hitting at the very fabric of the Indian family system. I feel that enactment of Section 498a is a conspiracy hatched by the Government to destroy Indian institution of family. Section 498a is proving as a lethal weapon in the hands of a young wife to undermine the traditional patriarchal authority. A Patriarch of a family is what the Police system is for the Government. As Government or State cannot exist without the Police force a family cannot exist without the authority of a Patriarch. Traditional Patriarchal family system is essential for the very existence of much revered Indian Family system. It is true that as per law police complaint per se is not a crime proved but it proves a death knell to the accused. Here in this case Father in law of the daughter in law is father of a son also. And he is Yajamani of the house not his son. And that woman who took him to the Police station would be about 25 to 30 years younger to Father in law. It may be noted that not simply Gender but Age plays very significant role in the determination of hierarchy of statuses of family members in India. For example an elder Sister enjoys superior status in relation to a younger brother even though she is only one year elder to him. And moreover middle class men in Indian live for Izzat or Prestige not simply for two square meal a day. When that Izzat is taken away by the wife of their son they must have found no reason to live any more. But please note that I am not an apologist for the extreme step taken by the parents of a son. For not only it is crime as per law of the land to end one’s life but also a sin to terminate one’s own life as per Hindu tradition.

Janardhan Prasasd

And One Mr. Harish (Delhi) replies to Janardhan Prasad as follows:

Mr Janardhan, our scriptures say that there are three classes of people,lowest or the worst class- people under this class prefer money to everything else. Middle class- people under this class are fascinated by money as well as honour. Supreme class or the highest class-people of this class prefer honour to everything else and are ever ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of honour. Our society revolves around these three basic classes. Since a slur of dishonor imposed on a decent man by none other than his own DIL was an devastating act , it led to such an tragic end. In spite of march of modernity, Indian family system runs on some values and if even one of it’s members tries to temper with them, this system loses it’s character and disintegration sets in. Sir, your statement is such a wise one and tells about the Indian family system so beautifully that every person who wishes for its survival should take note of it and make efforts in the right direction. Really appreciate your statement. – Harish.