New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the Section 498A of Indian Penal Code (IPC), which criminalises cruelty towards woman by her husband or husband’s relative, is not violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. 

The judgment came as a bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh dismissed a petition that sought a preliminary police probe before a first information report (FIR) was registered under the anti-dowry law to prevent its alleged misuse in matrimonial disputes.

"The court finds no reason to interfere. The plea that such provision (Section 498A IPC) is violative of Article 14 of Constitution is wholly misconceived and misdirected. Article 15 explicitly empowers to enact a special law for protection of women, etc. This (misuse) needs to be examined on case-to-case basis," the bench said while rejecting the plea, as quoted by Bar and Bench.

Notably, Section 498A of IPC has been replaced by Section 85 in Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The petition was filed by non-profit organisation Janshruti which argued that legal protection should be available against false complaints filed under Section 498A. The counsel representing the petitioner, told the court that in many countries, any person, irrespective of gender, can seek recourse to law in cases of domestic violence but in India, only women have that right.

The apex court replied saying, “We maintain our sovereignty. Why should we follow other others, they should follow us.” It added that every law can be misused and that courts have to look into such allegations on a case-to-case basis. 

“There are cases of misuse of every law. Do you want us to make sweeping statements? There may be instances where the women have been victimised. There might be cases where the provision would have been misused. So it is the duty of the court to decide each case based on its peculiar facts,” the court added.

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