The Supreme Court has raised concern about the widespread use of cruelty legislation by married women to harass their spouses and in-laws for selfish reasons.
The top court’s concern came amid mounting calls for justice for Atul Subhash, a 34-year-old Bengaluru engineer who committed himself after accusing his estranged wife and her relatives of bringing fake lawsuits against him in order to extort money.
According to a Bar And Bench piece, the court on Tuesday, while hearing a case (Dara Lakshmi Narayana and Others vs State of Telangana and Others), stated that Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which punishes cruelty by husbands and their relatives against married women, was being abused.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh observed that the clause, which was initially designed to protect women from domestic violence and harassment, was occasionally abused by certain women to compel her husband and his family to agree with their “unreasonable demands”.
The court stated that there is a rising trend among women to utilize the clause to launch personal vendettas against their husbands and families.
“In recent years, as there have been a notable rise in matrimonial disputes across the country, accompanied by growing discord and tension within the institution of marriage, there has been a growing tendency to misuse provisions like Section 498A of the IPC as a tool for unleashing personal vendetta against the husband.
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