On Tuesday, the Supreme Court of India made a statement regarding the misuse of section 498-A commonly known as the Anti-dowry law of the Indian Penal Code. This statement of the apex court comes during widespread public anger following the suicide of 34-year-old tech professional Atul Subhash, reportedly due to harassment by his wife, Nikita Singhania.
The Supreme Court said, “Inclusion of Sec 498A of IPC by way of an amendment was intended to curb cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband and his family, ensuring swift intervention by the State. However, in recent years, as there has been a notable rise in matrimonial disputes, accompanied by growing discord within the institution of marriage, there has been a growing tendency to misuse provisions like Section 498A of the IPC as a tool for unleashing personal vendetta against the husband and his family by a wife.”
A bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh dismissed a case of cruelty and dowry harassment filed by a wife (Nikita Singhania) against a man (Atul Subhash) from Telangana and his family. The wife had registered a domestic cruelty case against the appellants after the husband filed a petition seeking the dissolution of the marriage.
Deprecating such a measure, the Supreme Court said that the intention of the provision was to protect the wives who were subjected to cruelty in the matrimonial home primarily due to an unlawful demand for any property or valuable security in the form of dowry. However, the complainant-wife had misused the provision as a counterblast to the petition for dissolution of marriage sought by the first appellant-husband.
The apex court further said that it did not mean to say that any woman who has suffered cruelty should remain silent and forbear herself from making a complaint or initiating any criminal proceeding but the court should exercise caution while acting on vague allegations.
