Ranchi: Jharkhand High Court, while hearing a petition, has expressed concern over the misuse of Section 498A of IPC. The court has said that this provision of the law is being wrongly used by ‘dissatisfied wives’ as a weapon instead of a shield. This section of the Indian Penal Code is imposed in cases of harassment of a woman by her husband or in-laws, but it is seen that women are filing cases under this section out of anger on minor issues.
The court said, “There has been an unprecedented increase in marital disputes in recent years and it appears that Section 498-A of the IPC is being misused in many cases. “Small marital conflicts start suddenly and such cases are being filed by the wife out of anger over a minor dispute without proper consultation.”
The court said these things during the hearing on the petition of Dhanbad resident Rakesh Rajput. The woman, resident of Dhanbad, had lodged an FIR against her in-laws alleging torture. Rakesh Rajput and his wife Reena Rajput had filed a petition in the High Court to cancel it.
During the arguments in the court, it was established that all the allegations made against him were false, because he was traveling by train on the day of the alleged incident. Expressing disappointment over the filing of such false cases under Section 498A of the IPC, the High Court quashed the entire criminal proceedings including the cognizance order taken by the Dhanbad Civil Court against Rakesh Rajput and his wife.
