498a

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IPC 498a stands for Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 498a. This is a highly controversial law that allows a woman to file a criminal complaint against her husband and her in-laws on the charges of dowry harassment in an Indian court.

1 Definition
2 History
3 Features
4 Problems with IPC 498a
5 Abuse of the law
6 Miscellaneous
7 External links
8 References

[edit] Definition

CHAPTER XXA [of IPC] : OF CRUELTY BY HUSBAND OR RELATIVES OF HUSBAND

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.

[edit] History

IPC 498a came into existence in 1983.
It was intended in good faith to tackle the menace of "dowry deaths" in India. Several cases of dowry deaths have been reported in the media where the husband and/or his family members were either responsible for, or contributed in some way to the death of the wife shortly after a dispute involving dowry.

[edit] Features

IPC 498a provides for arrest of the offender(s) as named by the wife in a written complaint submitted to the court or magistrate.
An offence under this section is Cognizable (arrest before investigation), Non-Compoundable (case cannot be dismissed even if complaint is withdrawn) and Non-Bailable.
These provisions allow offenses under this section to be treated on par with offenses such as murder.
This law assumes the accused to be guilty until proven innocent. The statement of the wife is assumed to be candid and truthful in all respects. No evidence needs to be furnished by the wife.

[edit] Problems with IPC 498a

It violates the Presumption of Innocence a cornerstone principle of almost all modern judicial systems around the world. In many modern democracies, this principle is explicitly incorporated into the legal codes or constitution. For example, in Canada, section 11(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states: "Any person charged with an offence has the right ... to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal". Many authoritarian regimes, on the other hand, are known to presume accused to be guilty until proven innocent.
No evidence required. While a wife's statement is enough to presume that an offense was committed, the accused are required to prove that they did not committ any offense. Specifically, that they did not demand a dowry or subject the woman to cruelty. This is often difficult to prove if, indeed, they did not demand a dowry.
No distinction between continuing offenses (present danger to woman), and past offenses (no danger to woman). Keeping in mind that the intent of the law was to prevent dowry deaths, it is arguable that past offenses do not merit the same treatment that current offenses do, especially when a couple have been divorced or separated a long time.
It is cognizable even when husband and wife do not live together. The police need not investigate the alleged offence, or even ascertain if an offense was committed, before arresting and incarcerating the accused. It can be argued that the danger of a dowry death is remote at best and non-existant at worst when the couple have been separated or divorced for a long time.
It is non-bailable.
It is non-compoundable. Women often withdraw their complaints, admitting that they filed it in a moment of anger. However, the process is irreversible, and the consequences for the husband is often serious damage to his life and career.

[edit] Abuse of the law

In order to provide urgent relief to a woman in danger of a dowry death, the law as conceived in 1983 provided for the immediate, non-bailable arrest of those accused. However, these protections of the law have been reported to be widely abused by young women and their families to settle scores in ordinary financial disputes with the women's husbands and their families.

There have been reports of an alarmingly high incidence of cases where women in divorce proceedings file false criminal cases against their husbands to bring pressure on them, and then withdraw the complaint on receipt of a sum of money that is usually much larger than they would have received in a civil court. The law also allows wives to avoid long, expensive battles in India's civil courts while taking away the husband's right to a fair trial.

There are also a number of cases where foreign citizens or permanent or long-time residents of a foreign country such as the US or the UK, choose to come to India in order to file a case under IPC 498a against their Indian husbands, and then return to their countries without any further obligations or liabilities.

There have been many cases where children under the age of eight in the husband's family were named as offenders by the wife and duly arrested and incarcerated by the police without question. The trauma suffered by these children has never been studied, far less alleviated by the Indian government.

[edit] Miscellaneous

The Indian Supreme Court in a landmark judgement in 2005 has called the misuse of this law "Legal Terrorism" and urged lawmakers to incorporate requisite safeguards into the law to prevent its misuse. No relief has yet been realized.

Organizations such as Save Indian Family are at the forefront of fighting aginst the abuse of this law.