Disgruntled wives using Section 498A IPC as weapon rather than shield: Jharkhand High Court

The Jharkhand High Court recently said that disgruntled wives are using Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalises cruelty to women by her in-laws, as a weapon rather than a shield..Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi observed that such cases are often filed by wives in the heat of the moment over trivial issues, without proper deliberation."With the laudable object of punishing cruelty at the hands of husband or his relatives, Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code was inserted in the statute. There is a phenomenal increase in matrimonial disputes in recent years and it appears that in many cases, the object of Section 498-A of the Indian Penal Code is being misused and the said Section is used as weapon rather than shield by disgruntled wives.".Minor matrimonial skirmishes often assume serious proportions, resulting in commission of heinous crimes in which elders of the family are falsely implicated by the wives, the Court added..It was the case of the petitioners (in-laws of the complainant) before the Court that the complaint filed against them alleging torture was false, because they were traveling at the time.The Court observed that the petitioners reside in Hyderabad, while the alleged incident occurred in Dhanbad. Further, on the date of the alleged incident, the petitioners were traveling on a train, implying the possibility of false statements in the complaint, the Court added..The Court also observed that the petitioners' roles were not disclosed in the case, and the allegations against them were only general and vague.Expressing its disappointment with the filing of baseless cases under Section 498A of the IPC, the Court dismissed the entire criminal proceedings, including the order taking cognisance against the petitioners..Advocate Ashma Khanam appeared for petitioners.Advocate Sanjay Kumar Srivastava appeared for the State.Advocate Soumitra Baroi appeared for the complainant..[Read Order]