In a recent observation, the Jharkhand High Court noted that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), initially introduced to penalize cruelty inflicted by husbands or their relatives on married women, is currently being misused. The observation was made by Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi in the case of Umesh Kumar & Ors v State & Anr.
Justice Dwivedi stated,
“Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code was inserted in the statute with the laudable object of punishing cruelty at the hands of husband or his relatives, however, nowadays, the said Section is being misused which has been observed by several High Courts and the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”
The judge further noted that there are numerous instances where courts have expressed concerns over the misuse of Section 498A. There is a growing trend to implicate the husband’s relatives in matrimonial disputes without considering the potential long-term consequences of such complaints going to trial.
The High Court referred to Supreme Court judgments expressing concern over cases under Section 498A being lodged in the heat of the moment. The top court had noted the trend of making omnibus allegations to implicate the family members of the husband in matrimonial disputes.
The observation was made in the context of a plea to quash a criminal case lodged against the brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law (petitioners) of a man accused of being cruel to his estranged wife. Given the presence of general and omnibus allegations against the petitioners, the High Court exercised its inherent powers under Section 482 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and quashed the case against them.
the Court noted;
“What are the nature of torture made by these petitioners, has not been disclosed in the complaint petition as well as in the solemn affirmation,”
However, the Court clarified that it has not interfered with the complaint and criminal proceedings pending against the husband. The petitioners were represented by Advocate Rajesh Kumar, the wife by Advocate Lalan Kumar Singh, and the State by Advocate Shailesh Kumar Sinha.