Why supreme court calls 498a
as "Legal Terrorism"?
25 reasons “Why
IPC 498A is Anti-Social?”
1 It is handled under the Criminal law for marriage
related matters and not under Civil Laws.
2 Non-bailable warrant does not require proof before arrest.
No investigation necessary. This exposes the vulnerability of
the accused taking away their basic human rights.
3 Even those who were not part of the 'day-to-day' family life
could be named and arrested on one complaint, which can also
include pregnant women and children.
4 Accused is presumed guilty until proven innocent. No where
in the world it is so.
5 Gifts are sometimes misunderstood as dowry. Who decides that
the gift exchanged were 'gifts or dowry'?
6 It is non-compoundable which means that the complaint can’t
be taken back that hinders any scope of reconciliation between
the couple.
7 After a man is accused of 498A, he will not take his wife
back later.
8 Old parents who lived with dignity and respect have to live
with the stigma of harassing their daughter-in-law for the rest
of their lives.
9 Groom’s relatives don’t find a suitable bride
after they are accused under 498A
10 Most of the cases are filed because the husband refuses to
throw his parents out of the house at the wife’s demands.
11 Husband’s job is at risk when he is accused under 498A
who could even be the only breadwinner of the family.
12 The health of the old parents dangerously deteriorates after
they are arrested in a 498A case.
13 Some even commit suicide for not able to withstand the depression
and frustration of been falsely accused.
14 Old parents after 498a case become very apprehensive and
advice their son not to marry again.
15 The family ends up paying a very high price to settle the
case, the money that was saved for the parent’s health.
16 Most often the lawyers tend to take the family for a ride
to extract as much money as possible.
17 The possibility of a woman over-reacting on a trivial matter
in the family is never considered as a reason of complaint.
18 A woman tries to get divorce proceedings faster by filing
a 498a case even if no dowry was demanded.
19 The witnesses (neighbors) tend to support the woman for not
getting into a police case. They even fear of been accused by
the woman if they don’t support the woman.
20 Some women marries an NRI and slaps a 498A case only to extort
large sum of money
21 Even after knowing that the complaint can be false, police
tend to support the woman and asks the man to settle the case
with a financial compensation.
22 The case can easily linger in the court for years and only
the groom’s family has to pay the price.
23 498A case can be filed even after the divorce, which only
means that the accuser wants to demand money legally apart from
maintenance.
24 There is no prohibition clause in the 498A law that would
stop women to misuse it.
25 It is nearly impossible to file a case of defamation on the
accuser because the police will not register the case and it
would be hard to prove it.
Note :The existence of dowry deaths in the rural
areas is not the reason for lenient laws as understood by women
organizations. The law is already unfair, biased and inapplicable.
The true reason for dowry deaths in rural areas is poverty and
under-developed civilization. Dowry deaths still flourishing
in the rural areas and misuse of 498a law is flourishing in
the urban areas. Unwillingness of the women’s organization
to alter the law so that misuse of law can be stopped is evident.
On the contrary, women organizations are planning to strengthen
and increase the severity of the 498a law to curb dowry death,
which is absolutely preposterous. One must not forget that the
chunk of the GDP comes from the urban cities where these laws
are prevalently misused. If the misuse of laws still continues
then the social infrastructure will collapse which will have
a direct unfavorable impact on the country’s economy.
If the law can’t curb dowry deaths, can’t even stop
misuse, then what is the use of such a law that causes millions
of people to suffer ?
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