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A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking to introduce guidelines for misuse and abuse of dowry laws following the suicide of a Bengaluru-based software engineer.
The techie, 34-year-old Atul Subhash from Uttar Pradesh, died by suicide at his residence in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Subhash left behind a 24-page note and a 1.5-hour-long video accusing his estranged wife and her family of harassment and filing false cases against him.
The petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari sought the court’s directions to the Centre to implement observations the court had made in its earlier judgement. The court had flagged the abuse of Section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code, where the husband and his relatives are unnecessarily dragged into criminal cases alleging domestic cruelty against the wife.
It also sought the court to issue directions to form an expert committee of retired judges, lawyers and legal jurists to review and reform existing dowry and domestic violence laws and suggest measures to prevent their misuse. The plea also sought that marriage registrations should also record the articles and gifts given during marriage.
Notably, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday that courts must exercise caution in dowry harassment cases to prevent misuse of the law and avoid unnecessary trouble for innocent family members observing a tendency to implicate a husband’s kin.
The court had said inclusion of Section 498 A of the IPC by way of an amendment was intended to curb cruelty inflicted on a woman by her husband and his family, ensuring swift intervention by the state.
However, in recent years, there has been a “growing tendency” to misuse provisions like Section 498A (cruelty by husband or his relatives against wife) as a tool for “unleashing personal vendetta against the husband and his family by the wife,” the court said.
It said that making vague and generalised allegations during matrimonial conflicts, if not scrutinised, would lead to the misuse of legal processes and “encourage the use of arm-twisting tactics by a wife and her family”.
