NEW DELHI: Flagging misuse of Section 498A of the IPC for unleashing personal vendetta against the husband and his family by a wife, the Supreme Court on Tuesday quashed a dowry demand and cruelty case against a Telangana man and his family, saying the FIR was lodged with ulterior motives to settle personal scores and grudges against them.
“The inclusion of Section 498A of the 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 across the country, accompanied by growing discord and tension within the institution of marriage, consequently, 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 of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice N Kotiswar Singh said.
The top court set aside the Telangana High Court’s February 16, 2022 order that had refused to quash a dowry harassment case against a man, his parents and other family members lodged by the wife.
The Bench cautioned that vague and generalised allegations made during matrimonial conflicts, if not scrutinised, would lead to misuse of legal processes and an encouragement for use of arm-twisting tactics by a wife and/or her family.
“Sometimes, recourse is taken to invoke Section 498A of the IPC against the husband and his family in order to seek compliance with the unreasonable demands of a wife. Consequently, this court has, time and again, cautioned against prosecuting the husband and his family in the absence of a clear prima facie case against them,” it noted.
However, the Bench said, “We are not, for a moment, stating that any woman who has suffered cruelty in terms of what has been contemplated under Section 498A of the IPC should remain silent and forbear herself from making a complaint or initiating any criminal proceeding. That is not the intention of our aforesaid observations but we should not encourage a case like as in the present one, where as a counterblast to the petition for dissolution of marriage sought by the first appellant-husband of the second respondent herein, a complaint under Section 498A of the IPC is lodged by the latter.
“In fact, the insertion of the said provision is meant mainly for the protection of a woman who is 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, sometimes it is misused as in the present case,” it noted.