Respected Members of the Parliament of India,
This letter intends to draw your urgent attention to the rampant misuse of
Section 498A of Indian Penal Code and its devastating effects on the
Indian society at large. Rakshak is dedicated to prevention of Elder
Abuse, promotion of marital harmony and preservation of Indian family
values. It works in close conjunction with 498a.org, another leading international forum focused on researching the impact of misuse of
gender-biased laws such as Section 498A of Indian Penal Code &
Domestic Violence law.
Section 498A IPC (Anti-Dowry law) – Why is it misused?
Though enacted in 1983 to protect women from dowry harassment, IPC-
498A has now become an extremely convenient & lucrative method for
unscrupulous women to harass and extort huge amounts of money from
the husband’s family. Major reasons being:
• To alienate the husband from his family and his responsibilities
towards his parents
• To acquire husband’s property and extort huge sums of money
• To obtain a favorable divorce settlement
• To wrest child custody from the husband by leveling false charges of
cruelty against him
• To dominate the husband and harass his family thereby creating
conditions for coercion
Effect of false 498A charges
1. A false complaint is enough to secure arrest of all the people named in
the complaint.
2. Once implicated under a 498A case, innocent families are presumed
guilty and are brutally threatened by the law enforcement agencies, often
coerced into settling the case by paying exorbitantly large sums of
money. Ironically, the judicial system, unwittingly, ends up as a facilitator
in this legal extortion by encouraging the parties involved to settle out of
court.
3. People who refuse to be blackmailed through out-of-court settlement
and choose to prove their innocence in a court of law are faced with the
prospect of endless legal drudgery as cases drag on in the courts for
several years (average 7-8 years). This prolongs the misery of innocent
families thereby leaving them bankrupt, emotionally shattered and
socially ostracized.
4. Harassed, humiliated and with no justice in sight, innocent victims of
false dowry cases including senior citizens and accused women have
increasingly begun to take the extreme step of committing suicides.
Statistics & Gross Violation of Human Rights in False
cases – (source: National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB, 2005)
1. About 80% of the cases are found to be without merit after trial is
completed by the courts.
2. Under many cases innocent citizens are accused but never charge
sheeted, while some cases reach an out of court settlement.
3. An estimated 98% cases under 498A were found false in a study
conducted by Centre of Social Research (2003).
Analysis of data compiled by NCRB (for cases completing trial by courts
under Sec 498A IPC) reveal some shocking statistics:
• An innocent person is arrested every 5 minutes.
• An innocent woman is arrested every 23 minutes.
• An innocent senior citizen is arrested every 2.4 hours.
• An innocent child (below 18 years age) is arrested every day.
• A falsely accused person has to spend about 8 years in courts
to prove his/her innocence to get justice.
International community voice concern on Misuse of 498A
1. The WHO (World health organization) has explicitly cited the misuse of
anti-dowry law by daughters-in-law, as one of the primary reasons for
elder abuse in India [http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2002/WHO_NMH_VIP_02.1.pdf, page 21].
2. This law has even begun to affect the public image of India in the world
as the foreign governments, notably the United States and Canada, have
taken note of this malpractice and have issued advisories on their official
websites.
Misusers of Law are not punished by law
• The perpetrators, who file these false dowry cases, go unpunished
even after it is proven that no crime was committed against them. This
has led to a situation where false dowry cases are being filed with
impunity.
• The problem is so acute that in year 2005, responding to a writ petition,
the Honorable Supreme Court termed the Misuse of Section 498A as
Legal Terrorism [Sushil Kumar Sharma Vs. UOI and Ors - Writ Petition (C)
No. 141/2005].
• Despite the Misuse acquiring monstrous proportions, corrective
measures proposed by various Govt. Committees have not been acted
upon. Ironically, though 498A is projected as a law benefiting women, it
has victimized countless innocent women related to the husband’s
family.
Representations by Rakshak to Indian Government
officials and committees
Rakshak conducted extensive research on misuse of 498A, in cases
pertaining to resident as well as Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). It
subsequently presented its findings to:
1. Parliamentary Standing committee on Home Affairs chaired by Smt.
Sushma Swaraj [February 22nd, 2007]
2. Committee on Criminal Justice reform policy chaired by Shri NR
Madhav Menon [April 28th, 2007]
3. Inter-ministerial committee consisting of Ministry of Overseas Indian
Affairs, Ministry of Law, Ministry of Women and Child
development, MEA and NCW chaired by MOIA secretary Shri Nirmal
Singh. [July 25th, 2007]
4. Union Cabinet Minister Vayalar Ravi, Minister for Overseas Indian
Affairs [Meeting in USA: June 29th, 2006]
5. Several current and retired High Court Judges [Meeting in USA and
Delhi on various dates]
6. India’s Ambassador to USA, Mr. Ronan Sen [Meeting in USA: January
31st, 2007]
7. Consul General of India at San Francisco [Several Representations
and meetings from 2005 to date]
Recommendations to prevent Misuse & deliver Justice
Section 498A of IPC (in its current form) offers no protection to the
innocent husband and his family members when falsely implicated by
his unscrupulous wife. Following recommendations are proposed to
prevent misuse and protect innocent citizens:
1. 498A should be made bailable, non-cognizable and compoundable.
2. Stringent penalties should be imposed on people who misuse this law
thereby discouraging others from abusing it.
3. Arrests should be made only if there is irrefutable evidence of grave
physical harm.
4. Arrests of pregnant and nursing women, children, senior citizens and
people requiring medical attention should be avoided.
5. The trial for 498A must be time bound and completed within 6 months
to a year.
6. All anti-dowry laws should be gender-neutral since both giving and
taking of dowry are punishable offences.
7. All marital disputes should come under the purview of civil legislation
as opposed to being considered as criminal offenses.
False accusations of dowry harassment lead to violation of Human
Rights of innocent citizens.
Hence misuse of 498a should be a criminal offence under Indian Penal
Code. In the state of Haryana in year 2003, more than 3500 parents
legally disowned their sons before marriage to avoid being implicated in
a false case later [http://www.tribuneindia.com/2004/20040201/haryana.htm#2]. Such instances only speak of the breaking apart of India’s
traditions and long preserved social and moral fabric.
Conclusion
Growing Elder Abuse, Child Abuse, violation of Human Rights, new
emerging Crimes and Criminals are some of the ramifications of abuse of
498A. It is therefore essential that necessary checks and
counterbalances be introduced in the said statute so as to accord
protection to innocent citizens who are falling prey to rampant misuse of
these Laws.
Through this letter we have made an attempt to reach you and apprise
you of the current state of affairs. Our volunteers in Delhi would be more
than willing to present to you a first hand account of the havoc created in
the society by these gender biased laws. We sincerely hope that as
esteemed Member of the Parliament, you would take it upon yourself to
raise this issue in the parliament and do everything possible within your
means to protect the rights of these families (and future victims of law)
and deliver them justice.
Sincerely,
The Rakshak Foundation
California, USA
