December 20, 2015
Slapped with 498A, men put up fight
Tuesday was a big day for Vinay, a young techie from the city. After all, he’d won a long legal battle -charges of cruelty slapped against him by his wife were proved false. Vinay had quit his job to prove his innocence in the two-year-old case. The FIR against him will be quashed soon.
“I didn’t want to compromise my dignity by opting for a monetary negotiation, succumbing to my wife’s demand for Rs 1 crore. My wife invoked section 498A (cruelty to a woman by her husband or his relative) against me after I moved the divorce petition,” said Vinay (name changed).
Lawyers confirmed that more and more husbands are willing to face trial to prove they’re innocent, instead of going in for compromises.
This is in contrast to the earlier trend of men striking monetary deals to save themselves the humiliation and criminal taint.
Three in 10 cases of divorce include section 498A and most of them end in settlement, says advocate Manjunath Gowda. “There is misuse of the law and it has been recognized by the Law Commission of India. The real sufferers are rural women who rarely resort to the provision,” he said.
Around 3 40,555 cases under the section were pending trial towards the end of 2010.As many as 9,38,809 accused were implicated in these cases. Lawyers point out that the poor conviction rate -less than half of that in cases falling under other IPC sections -is an indicator that the allegations against husbands relatives are often found to be baseless.
“Settlement in 498A cases is only a reflection that the section is used as an instrument of blackmail and threat. Genuine cases carry on for 6-7 years because the wife is determined to see her husband behind the bars. In cases involving malafide intention, the relatives of the husband who have never met the wife or are settled abroad also make it to the FIR,” said another lawyer.
“I didn’t want to compromise my dignity by opting for a monetary negotiation, succumbing to my wife’s demand for Rs 1 crore. My wife invoked section 498A (cruelty to a woman by her husband or his relative) against me after I moved the divorce petition,” said Vinay (name changed).
Lawyers confirmed that more and more husbands are willing to face trial to prove they’re innocent, instead of going in for compromises.
This is in contrast to the earlier trend of men striking monetary deals to save themselves the humiliation and criminal taint.
Three in 10 cases of divorce include section 498A and most of them end in settlement, says advocate Manjunath Gowda. “There is misuse of the law and it has been recognized by the Law Commission of India. The real sufferers are rural women who rarely resort to the provision,” he said.
Around 3 40,555 cases under the section were pending trial towards the end of 2010.As many as 9,38,809 accused were implicated in these cases. Lawyers point out that the poor conviction rate -less than half of that in cases falling under other IPC sections -is an indicator that the allegations against husbands relatives are often found to be baseless.
“Settlement in 498A cases is only a reflection that the section is used as an instrument of blackmail and threat. Genuine cases carry on for 6-7 years because the wife is determined to see her husband behind the bars. In cases involving malafide intention, the relatives of the husband who have never met the wife or are settled abroad also make it to the FIR,” said another lawyer.
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