India News | Delhi High Court Raises Concern over Misuse of Anti-cruelty Law for Women
Get latest articles and stories on India at LatestLY. The Delhi High Court recently said that the law protecting a married woman against harassment was now being misused to harass the husband and his family members to gain leverage.
New Delhi, Feb 14 (PTI) The Delhi High Court recently said that the law protecting a married woman against harassment was now being misused to harass the husband and his family members to gain leverage.
Justice Amit Mahajan in an order made available on February 13 clarified it did not mean genuine cases of harassment didn't exist.
Also Read | PM Modi US Visit: Prime Minister Narendra Modi Invites US Universities to Open Campus in India.
The court said it was not blind to the ground reality of the deep-rooted social evil of greed for dowry which subjected victims to an "unspeakable" conduct and harassment.
"Courts have taken note of the increasing tendency of implicating the husband and his family in matrimonial litigation in a number of cases," it said.
Also Read | New India Co-Operative Bank Barred From Functioning: RBI Supersedes Bank Board for 12 Months.
The order went on to add, "While the provision of Section 498A of the IPC was introduced with an object to combat harassment meted out to a married woman, it is abysmal to note that the same is now also being misused as a tool to harass the husband and his family members and gain leverage."
Such matters are filed in the heat of the moment on the advice of counsel by exaggerating and misconstruing actual events, it added.
The court said in matters where vague allegations were made against the husband, that too belatedly, continuation of proceedings would amount to an abuse of the process of law.
The observations came while dealing with a man's plea for quashing of the FIR against him and his family by his estranged wife. She accused him of harassment on the ground of demand for dowry and for not returning her "stridhan".
Quashing the FIR and other proceedings arising from it, the court said "sweeping and omnibus allegations" were made against the man and no date or time or particulars of the alleged instances of demand for dowry or harassment were specified in the FIR.
The court owed a duty to look beyond the allegations into ancillary circumstances as well in such cases, it added.
The court did not find any evidence against the family members of the petitioner either.
It found merit in the man's contention that the allegations were an afterthought and a counterblast to the divorce petition.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)