Women should not misuse cruelty law for ‘personal vendetta’ against husbands: Supreme Court

Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh quashed the case filed by a woman against her husband after the Telangana high court refused to dismiss the case.

Amid outrage over the death by suicide of a Bengaluru-based techie due to alleged harassment by his wife and in-laws, the Supreme Court, in a separate case, warned against the misuse of the cruelty law in marital dispute cases lodged by women against their husbands.

The Supreme Court of India (Amal KS/HT PHOTO)

The cruelty law cannot be misused as a “personal tool to unleash vendetta,” the court observed.

"Section 498(A) was introduced to stop the cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband and his family, through swift intervention by the state,” an India Today report quoted the bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and N Kotiswar Singh as saying on Tuesday.

Section 498(A) of the now-scrapped Indian Penal Code (IPC) dealt with offences of cruelty against a woman by her husband and in-laws. In Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new penal code, Section 86 deals with such crimes.

Under Section 86, the guilty can be imprisoned for three years or more, and be liable for a fine.

Meanwhile, the judges added, “However, in recent years, there has been a notable rise in marital disputes across the country, accompanied by growing discord and tension within the institution of marriage. Consequently, there has been a growing tendency to misuse provisions like Section 498(A) as a tool for unleashing personal vendetta against the husband and his family by a wife.”

Further, the bench stated that making such “vague and generalised” allegations could lead to a “misuse” of the legal processes, besides encouraging the use of “arm-twisting tactics” by a wife and her kin.

Finally, the judges set aside the cruelty case filed against a man and his family by his spouse. Earlier, the Telangana high court had refused to dismiss the case.