People's Democracy

Resolution on 498A

During the last few years there has been a concerted effort to dilute Section 498A (cruelty against women) and make it ineffective. Recently, a petition was heard by the Rajya Sabha which averred that Section 498A should be made compoundable, bailable and non-cognizable on the ground that it was being misused. Some courts have also suggested this and issued directions to the police not to treat these cases as normal criminal cases but to register cases only after thoroughly examining the allegations and to arrest the accused after permission from DCP. The ministry of home affairs has also issued similar directions. Recent amendments to the CrPC have also incorporated a provision stating that normally no arrest should be made in crimes in which the punishment is less than seven years.

Our organisations have dealt with, and continue to deal with, several thousand complaints of dowry harassment, dowry death and domestic violence on a daily basis. It is also our experience that women victims of violence do not file complaints under this section unless they have suffered prolonged harassment and torture in their marital homes. It is only when they are not able to tolerate the daily, repeated violence that complaints are filed. Section 498 A was inserted in the IPC after a long and sustained struggle by women’s organisations and others. Prior to the insertion of Section 498A the Indian law did not contain any provision to criminally punish gross forms of domestic violence. Section 498A seeks to punish domestic violence “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”. The Section also punishes the harassment of the woman for dowry.

However, women’s organisations have found it extremely difficult to use the law for the benefit of the victims. We have found that the police do not normally register a case when a victim approaches them. In many instances, they in fact try to persuade the victim not to make a complaint and trivialise the violence that she has suffered. Women have also complained that they have found the police corrupt and inefficient apart from being gender-biased. In many metropolitan cities like Delhi, special Crime Against Women Cells have been set up ostensibly to help women victims. However, these cells first try to settle these cases through counseling which often means telling the woman to compromise. Even if cases are settled by this process the settlements are often on inequitable terms for the concerned women. Finally, even when a complaint is registered, the investigation is lackadaisical and many cases do not end in conviction because of the poor quality of evidence. Delay and gender-bias amongst the members of the judiciary adds to the problem. 

Meanwhile, dowry related torture and domestic violence has continued to escalate even after Sec 498A and Sec 304 (B) (dowry death) were incorporated in the law. According to the latest NCRB statistics, 89,546 cases of cruelty/ torture under Sec 498A were registered in 2009 all over the country. This means that a case of cruelty is officially registered every 6 minutes in our country. However, the conviction rate in 2009 was only 19.8 per cent. The NFHS-III (2005-2006) had also reported that 37 per cent of ever married women had experienced spousal physical or sexual violence and 16 per cent had experienced spousal emotional violence. Thus more than half of ever married women had experienced domestic violence according to NFHS-III.

It is important to mention that while charge-sheets were filed in 92.1 per cent of all the cases involving crime against women, the conviction rate was only 27.8 per cent. It is also important to note that though it has been alleged in various fora that women file false cases under S498A IPC and therefore withdraw/drop cases, the crime figures of 2009 show that fewer cases of cruelty by husband and in-laws (2.2 per cent) got withdrawn or compounded in comparison to other crimes against women like sexual harassment (3.3 per cent), molestation (3.5 per cent).

If Section 498A is made non-cognizable this would mean that the police will not investigate the offence even if it is reported to them. Thus, if a woman is facing domestic violence she cannot call the police even if there is serious threat of injury. If the offence is made bailable this would mean that the husband cannot be arrested. If Section 498A is made compoundable it will only result in the women facing yet more pressure to compromise. In any event, if a compromise is reached in these cases, these are getting recognised by the courts, including the High Courts, who readily quash the criminal proceedings. Diluting Section 498A in anyway would mean undermining the seriousness of the offence of cruelty and domestic violence. The propounders of these proposals are mostly interested parties and those being dealt with under this law who feel that dowry harassment is not a crime.

Complaints under Sec 498 A should be dealt with as complaints under other serious crimes are dealt with. A perusal of judgements under this section shows that there are hardly any cases in which the accused have been held guilty under Sec 498A on its own. It is only in cases in which death has occurred that the accused, most often, get punished for cruelty and harassment under Sec 498 A. This shows that rather than being misused, Sec 498 A is being under used.

If there are any false complaints under Sec 498A, these should also be dealt with according to law on a case by case basis. It is relevant to mention that several laws in our country are being misused by certain sections in our society. However no one talks of amending these laws.

We therefore demand that no steps should be taken to dilute the effectiveness of Section 498A IPC.  Instead the implementation of Section 498A should be ensured so that women victims can get prompt attention if they are facing domestic violence. The government should ensure that the following steps are taken by the police:

·        The police should be asked to treat a complaint under Section 498A as they would treat any serious criminal matter.

·        The police should promptly respond to a complaint under Section 498A and if there is any danger to the woman they should immediately remove the accused husband/relatives.

·        If a complaint is made of non-return of dowry or Stridhan the police should immediately initiate a search and seize procedure.

·        There should be no pressure on a woman to take part in a settlement process if she wants to register a case. Conciliation and settlement of a case should only be carried out if a woman wants to undergo such a process.

·         Police investigation into cases of Section 498A should be thorough and they should take prompt statements from all the witnesses and collect documents which are available.

·        If a woman has been subjected to physical cruelty she should be sent for prompt medical examination. In cases of mental torture she should be referred to a psychologist and be sent for counseling.

·        The police should advise her of her rights under the PWDVA and help her by sending her to a service provider. If she needs shelter, the woman and any child/children with her should be sent to an appropriate shelter home. The government should set up under a centrally sponsored scheme a shelter home in each district of the country.  

·        A case under Section 498A should be tried by a fast-track court.