Section 498A Of IPC: A Weapon Or A Shield? – Supreme Court Of India

The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its recent judgment of Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar and Another v Union of India Ministry of Law and Justice and Others1 revisited the important issue relating to Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (hereinafter referred to as "the IPC"). Section 498-A was brought into the IPC in the year 1983 to curb the menace of cruelty to married women, which often led to dowry deaths.

In order to protect helpless women who were regularly getting abused and beaten and tortured by their respective husbands and husband's family members, multiple changes were made to IPC. Accordingly, under Section 498A cruelty to a woman by her husband or any relative of her husband was made punishable for with an imprisonment for a term of three years and also with fine. This was further supported by Section 304B where a woman had committed suicide within 7 years of her marriage or died in circumstances raising a reasonable suspicion that some other person has committed an offence, provisions were being made for inquest by Executive Magistrates. Further, the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 was also amended to provide that in cases where the woman had committed suicide within 7 years of marriage and it is shown that her husband or any other relative of her husband had subjected her to cruelty, then the Court may presume that such suicide was abetted by her husband or such relative of the husband.

However, since the Section was subject matter of controversy, the Hon'ble Supreme Court observed that it was often being "used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives."2 Because of this, various judgments over time have also read down the Section.

In Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar and Another, the judgment of Rajesh Sharma and others v. State of U.P. and another3 passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court came in question. In the Rajesh Sharma judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme Court, in order to prevent misuse of S. 498-A, gave a number of directions such as -

One or more Family Welfare Committees were to be constituted by the District Legal Services Authorities in every district. Every complaint under Section 498A received by the police or the Magistrate would then be referred to and looked into by such Committee which would within one month give its report to such committee. Till the report was received, no arrest would be normally effected. The complaints under Section 498A and other connected offences may be...