Crimes against women are attracting the attention of the judiciary with stringent provisions but surveys had shown that most of the provisions of section 354 of IPC and the Dowry Prevention Law (Section 498A of IPC) are the most misused provisions of law in India and yet no modifications seem to have been made in it. The provision, enacted to protect the dignity of a woman, has become a widely misused weapon by them and is used to harass and blackmail their husband and his family. Once an FIR is filed under 498A/406 (IPC) it becomes a tool in the hands of the police to harass the husband and all his relatives named in the FIR without even preliminary investigation. According to a survey conducted by Fight against Misuse of Dowry law, 98 per cent of the cases filed under section 498A are false. “By misuse of the provision a new legal terrorism can be unleashed. The provision is intended to be used a shield and not an assassin’s weapon… says the Hon’ble Supreme Court. Merely because the provision is declared constitutional, it does not give licence to unscrupulous persons to wreak personal vendetta.

Arnesh Kumar vs. State of Bihar & Others– Here the Supreme Court observed that the cognizable and non-bailable nature of section 498A of IPC has given it a doubtful position of pride amongst the dowry-related provisions, which are used by the dissatisfied wives as a weapon rather than a shield. These provisions offer the best ways to any wife to harass her husband and his relatives.

Justice J.D. Kapoor (Delhi High Court) said in his order passed on 30th May, 2003 said that “I feel constrained to comment upon the misuse of the provisions (of law) to such an extent that it is hitting at the foundation of marriage itself and has proved to be not so good for the health of the society at large.

According to latest data by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), close to 60,000 married men committed suicide in 2014 as compared to 27,000 married women. However, 1,400 widowers ended their lives compared to 1,300 widows. Similarly, around 550 divorced men committed suicide as compared to 410 divorced women. The data show, overall 66% of all suicides were committed by married people. Only 21% of those who committed suicide were unmarried, while widows/widowers and divorced people made up for less than 3% of all suicides.

By relying on NCRB data, the Supreme Court formed an opinion that the low conviction rate and the acquittals in the cases means they are false or fake. The Supreme Court overlooked the fact that the conviction rate in 498A cases could be low because of a number of out-of-court settlements, the complainant-women often not taking interest in the matter, ineffective investigation, and so on. While considering the misuse of dowry-related laws, the court should also have considered the menace of dowry and dowry deaths. As per NCRB data, in 2003 there were 6,208 deaths; in 2008 the number rose to 8,172 and by 2014 to 8,455. According to information received from the Hon’ble High Courts (during the year 2011), 3,40,555 cases under Section 498-A IPC were pending trial in various courts towards the end of 2010. There were as many as 9,38,809 accused implicated in these cases. As per the report of NCRB (National Crime Record Bureau), 2020. The total number of cases registered under section 498 A were 1,11,549 out of these 5,520 were considered as false by police and 16,151 cases were closed due to mistake of false fact or law, Insufficient Evidence, Mistake or Civil dispute.

The latest addition in a women’s legal artillery is The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act. Many husbands and their family members, falsely implicated in these cases have committed suicide after being jailed, unable to bear the social trauma. The government told the Rajya Sabha that “sometimes” provisions of the Domestic Violence and Anti-Dowry Acts were misused and several NGOs had also given reports supporting it. Answering a question on cases of domestic violence in the country, MoS (Home) Kiren Rijiju said that only 13 persons were convicted out of the 639-charge sheeted in 2014 under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005. Mr. Rijiju told the House that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) started collecting data on the Act only since 2014. According to the reply, 426 cases were registered under the Act in 2014, of which charge sheet was filed in 312 cases. Conviction happened in just nine cases. Trial was completed in 19.1 per cent cases. Of the 693 persons arrested in these cases, 639 were charge-sheeted. Only 13 were convicted. Mr. Rijiju said that “this is also true that sometimes a few provisions of any law can be misused. One cannot deny this. Many NGOs have also given reports of gross misuse of certain laws like the Anti Dowry Act.