The Supreme Court of India has made an historic decision recently by quashing the case under Section 498A of IPC, which is the women centric laws protecting the women for matrimonial disputes against their in-laws, thereby showing how the law is being misused as a weapon to coerce or pressure a husband for divorce. Like in the Atul subhash sucide case, Atul Subhash died by suicide, alleging harassment by his estranged wife, Nikita Singhania, and her family over dowry demands.
Therefore, this judgment in this article sends home the message regarding the role of law in making this balance between the cases truly suffering from cruelty and preventing the abuse of provisions.
Why in the News?
In the case of Digambar and Another vs The State of Maharashtra & Another:
- The appellant's appeal against the Bombay High Court's Aurangabad Bench's decision to reject a criminal case against the appellants was being heard by a bench made up of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan.
- According to the complaint, her husband's parents (the appellants) coerced her to have an abortion by forcing her to eat contaminated food. She further alleged that they exposed her to both mental and physical torture for not having a male child.
- Charges under Sections 312/313 (causing miscarriage) under the IPC, which is now Sections 85 and 88/89 of the BNS, were also included in addition to the provisions of Section 498A.
Observation of the Court
- A two-year delay was accorded to a complaint about the miscarriage and cruelty that was filed with the police further, no evidence could prove that the appellants had ever been informed of such a pregnancy or of having administered substances inducing the miscarriage.
- Justice Gavai ruled that the allegation of cruelty cannot be a crime because it comes devoid of intention to cause serious harm, cause the victim to commit suicide, or inflict very serious injury upon her.
- The Court took note that general accusations have been made against the appellants without any specific instances of cruelty or misconduct. "Furthermore, in this case, the FIR does not reference any such allegations and turns to be a False FIR.
- All that is revealed in the complaint is the vague statement, that son of the appellants used to beat her, which does not furnish any detailed allegation about infliction of any injuries by the appellants themselves and hence is a False dowry case.
Decision by the Court
It has been specified by the Court that mere allegation of 'cruelty' alone is not sufficient to constitute an offense under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. " It must be carried out with the goal of gravely hurting the victim, pushing her to commit suicide, or significantly injuring herself". In this context, the appeal succeeded and the matter was dismissed.
Role of a Divorce lawyer
- A divorce lawyer provides legal advice to a couple wishing to terminate their marriage. They take care of property settlement, alimony demand, custody of minors or children, maintenance of spouses, among other things.
- Apart from negotiating and advocating on behalf of clients, they also keep advising them individually on how to minimize conflicts while achieving a great settlement for each party.
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