IPC 498A

Folks,

if you remember, YS (Yudhbir Singh) Dadwal was appointed as the commissioner of Police, Delhi, amid a controversy. Kiran Bedi felt that she deserved to be the DP Commissioner and raised a ruckus about it. The establishment quietly allowed her reputation to be shredded in the media through well placed op-eds and then had the Union Home Minister call her in for a candid talk, and closed the matter.

Here is a photograph of Commissioner Dadwal:

I wondered who YS Dadwal was, but had stated that this establishment needs capable officers in key posts in order to continue their ventures without the distractions of issues with Law and Order etc. I was right about this and what came as a pleasant surprise to me is that, after the assumption of office, Commissioner Dadwal publicly stated that he wouldn’t allow the police to be used as instruments of revenge, especially in 498A cases.

This enlightened officer has followed up on his words with actions and has issued standing orders to the effect that no one is to be arrested in 498A cases without the permission of the DCP.

Here is the order in pdf format:

Delhi Police Comm YS Dadwal: No 498A Arrests Without Approval Of DCP

Here is another order from the Delhi police enforcing Justice Dhingra’s Smt Neera Singh Judgment:

Delhi HC Instructions Regarding Dowry (498A) cases

What is the impact of Commissioner Dadwal’s order ? In Delhi, this order:

• Eliminates the need for Anticipatory bail
• Ensures the 498A can no longer be used to jail entire families and extort money.
• Eliminates the police as a factor in this extortion racket.
• Takes away the power to arrest from the morons who infest the Indian criminal justice system. These morons range from the goons in uniform to corrupt lower court magistrates.
• The lawyers will see a huge source of revenue dry up in the form of the elimination for the need for Anticipatory bail and defense in 498A cases.
• The Delhi courts will see a drop in the number of cases getting into the filthy sewer known as the Indian Criminal Justice System.
• The number of final reports filed in Delhi will go up. Read this to know what a final report is: The 498A Final Report Of Film Actor Prashanth
• Commissioner Dadwal can now focus the energies of the Delhi police force on real issues that plague women, such as rapes, traficking etc, instead of allowing goons in uniform to capture middle aged women and grandmothers in their home in the early morning or the start of the weekend, all in the name of “protecting women”.

This order is in line with the order issued by the AP Police Commissioner, MV Krishna Rao, in 2002. You can read about that order here:

Hyderabad Police: No Arrest In 498A Cases Without Permission Of DCP - 2002

All these orders are based on the Supreme Court Judgment of Joginder Kumar Vs State of UP. You can read about the importance and the rationale behind this judgment here:

Habeas Corpus, Magna Carta And Joginder Kumar Vs State Of UP

That brings me back to Justice Shiv Narain Dhingra, who undoubtedly ranks amongst the greatest judges of India. It was he, who said (Crl. Appeal No. 696/2004, 01.Nov.2007):

“In all these cases in the name of investigation, except recording statement of complainant and her few relatives nothing is done by police. The police do not verify any circumstantial evidence nor collect any other evidence about the claims made by the complainant. No evidence about giving of dowry or resources of the complainant’s family claiming spending of huge amounts is collected by the police. This all is resulting into gross misuse of the provisions of law.”

You can download this judgment from here: Justice Dhingra (Crl. Appeal No. 696/2004, 01.Nov.2007)

It is this excerpt that Commissioner Dadwal quotes in his order.

Personally, I feel a sense of satisfaction as I had quoted the same excerpt in the last chapter of The Guide To Surviving IPC 498A.

Soon, I will have a post that collects all these standing orders in one place.

This is it. For all you folks from Delhi, this signals the end of the extortion racket known as section 498A. For the rest of you in this country, use this to nail the cops who showed up/show up at your door to effect an illegal arrest. We have turned the corner in this fight against this extortion racket known as 498A and against the practitioners of pussy politics, aka, The Feminazis of India.

Next steps:

• Use this to pressure other states to issue similar standing orders for the police to comply with the Joginder Kumar Vs UP judgment.
• Set a target date to eliminate 498A as an extortion racket and make it bailable and non-compoundable across the country.
• File compensation for illegal detention against police officers who violated the Joginder Kumar arrest guidelines. If 20 people per state do this, this will break the budgets of the states for law and order and cause the scum in uniform to think twice before entering our homes to terrorize our families to extort large sums of money under the pretext of women protection laws.
• Prepare to force an amendment to the DV Act to sanitize it and make it gender neural and implementable. This will be the next evil to overcome and give Indira Jaising more reasons to moan about .

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I had written the 498A Survivor’s Guide as a means to help people defend themselves when caught up in this extortion racket known as Section 498A, IPC. Months after writing it, I was plagued by doubts about whether it was fulfilling the purpose it was meant to.

In July of 2007 I heard about a 498A case being filed against film actor Prashanth and his family and read that they had asked the media to spread the word about the survivor’s guide to 498a as it had inspired them to fight back. If Justice SN Dhingra inspired me to start this blog, then it was the feedback I received from Prashanth’s case that led me to redouble my efforts.

A few weeks ago, I heard that a final report was submitted and Prashant’s 498A case closed by the Chennai Police as a case of “MISTAKE OF FACT”.

In effect, the Indian Police force has demonstrated that they can act as a world class investigative team. I commend the officer who led this investigation.

When a 498A case is registered, there is a rush by the police to shakedown the victims under the pretext of a compromise. If the victims can’t or won’t pay up, the FIR with its litany of lies is transformed into a chargesheet verbatim and filed in unregulated, overburdened and increasingly corrupt trial courts. I have heard of very few instances when the allegations in the FIR were investigated and a final report being filed, hence closing the case as one without merit. Click here for the flowchart that will give you an idea about how a final report is filed.

It is very likely that Prashanth’s 498A case was investigated into as he and his family chose to fight against this attempt at extortion instead of paying up and making the case disappear, like other known personalities did in the past. It is also likely that since they chose to fight, the police had to investigate the allegations in the FIR as the normal route of transforming the FIR into a chargesheet would have invited scrutiny and brickbats due to the attention SIF volunteers brought to this case.

The reason for uploading Prashanth’s final report is manifold:

• To show ordinary folks that something called a final report exists.
• To show them what it looks like, in order to enable them to ask for the same and get the police to INVESTIGATE along the lines of Prashant’s 498A final report.
• To enable those already charge sheeted to have their cases re-investigated. This can be done by filing RTIs on the investigation conducted by the IO. The RTI can be based on this final report. The results of the RTI can be used to petition the police higher ups. The IOs are normally the scum that infest the station.
• To enable ordinary citizens to demand that they be treated equally and that an investigation into a criminal case is not just meant for the famous, the well heeled or the well connected.
• To raise questions about the investigations, if any, conducted in 498A cases. There are over 60,000 498A cases filed per year, yet the rate of conviction, as per Ranjana Kumari’s organisation is just 2% (Click here for the CSR study on 498a). How did all these cases end up in trial courts? How many of them were truly investigated? How many final reports were filed? Why is there is such a discrepancy in this ratio?

The importance of the final report lies in the fact that it is proof that the police did their duty and had conducted an investigation and thus were able to discern the truth and prevent the accused in a frivolous and false case from being pushed into the clogged toilet, which is the Indian criminal justice system.

The final report in Prashanth’s case is 30 pages long, double spaced. The allegations in the FIR are repeated in the final report. I will upload the FIR as soon as I get my hands on it. I have read a few FIRs and they all seem to come from a single template. Here are some of the common allegations listed in these FIRs including mine:

• In-laws preventing the bride from contacting her family. Invariably the phone is taken away.
• Demand for dowry before and after the marriage and non fulfillment of the demand leading to harassment, physical and mental.
• The bride being thrown out of the matrimonial home with just the clothes on her body.
• The in-laws locking up the bride in a room.

Here are a few excerpts from the final report. :

• She was subjected to dental check up and the dentist certified her teeth were in good condition.
• She further complained that soon after the marriage, when she went to her in-laws house, Mr.Prashanth’s bed room was not ready and the toilet was very worse. She was forced to stay in the living room. Her mother-in-law and sister-in-law used to harass her for not bringing enough jewellery, sarees and Dowry. Servants were not allowed to wash her clothes and to clean her toilet.
• Whenever her in-laws leave the house, she was locked inside the house and the watchman was informed not to open the door.
• She stated that since her passport was not returned to her, she could not take her ailing father abroad for best medical treatment, thereby she had lost her father and alleged that r.er father died only because of Mr.Prashanth. Hence she filed this complaint to punish her husband, her father-in-law and mother-in-law for the dowry demand, cruelty and harassment and also requested to return the valuable items left at her matrimonial house.

I couldn’t stop laughing my head off after reading the first excerpt, until I came to another line in the final report.

This line had to do with Prashant’s mom. I quote: “Mrs.Shanthi Thiagarajan is a Brahmin woman, and they have a separate cook for vegetarian at home. Mrs. Shanthi Thiagarajan, was happy that her daughter-in-law was also vegetarian and she never compelled her to eat non-vegetarian.”

What touched me, was the fact that this mother of a successful famous young man, was happy due to a simple reason of having a vegetarian for a daughter in law. This is a reflection of the nature of this lady, who fortunately escaped being jailed, unlike my intelligent, gentle mom and tens of thousands of other women of all ages who became a statistic of women arrested under this pernicious law.

What makes their situation really sad is the fact that they were arrested illegally as they weren’t aware of their right against arbitrary arrest reinforced by the Supreme Court Judgment of Joginder Kumar Vs State Of UP.

The Feminazis of India have a lot to answer for and we, the sons and daughters of these innocent mothers, will work to undo their pernicious gains, in this life or the next.

Folks, with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, I present to you, the final report of Prashanth’s 498A case.

Prashant 498a Final Report (pdf)

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Over 100,000 Women Have Been Arrested Under Section 498A Since 2004.

I pulled the data from the NCRB annual publications on Crime In India

• Crime In India 2006
• Crime In India 2005
• Crime In India 2004

Here is the data on the women arrested under Section 498A, IPC, compiled by the NCRB (NATIONAL CRIME RECORDS BUREAU) in a pdf format. I’ve highlighted the data in yellow:

NCRB Data On The Women Arrested Under 498A Since 2004 (pdf)

The next thing to look at are the number of Final Reports that were submitted. The data below gives you the true picture of what the police have been doing. The 498A cases are highlighted in yellow.

Disposal Of IPC Cases By Police (NCRB) 2004-2006

Why is there such a large discrepancy in the ratio of cases closed with a final report to those which were charge sheeted ? It is obvious that the police aren’t doing their work. And why would they, these women were easy pickings for these hyenas. All they had to do was swoop in and scoop up these women, ignoring their rights against arbitrary arrest. These women include young  girls to grandmothers.

To truly understand the scope of this egregious act by the Govt Of India, here is some data from the days of the British raj.

In 1930, the British govt arrested 17,000 women for their involvement in the Dandi Yatra (Salt March). During 1937 to 1947 (10 Years), they arrested 5,000 women involved in the freedom struggle.

The Govt of India, under the sway of the radical feminists of India, has been arresting over 27,000 women/year of all ages since 2004. In all these cases, these women, including nursing mothers, little girls and grandmothers, were arrested without an investigation into the veracity of the complaints filed.

The Indian police know about the abuse of this law as they are the primary beneficiaries of this extortion racket.

The Indian courts know this this too. The Higher judiciary is cleaner than the lower judiciary, which is nothing short of a sewer, that people entangled in this mess fall into.

Worse, the leading radical feminists of India and The Govt Of India know about it. I quote:

• The idea should be to see how the police system works, the concerned official out there should not lodge an FIR and arrest the groom and his side before investigating. These kind of shortcuts are mainly tainting the image of the prevailing law. The way uncles, aunts are also humiliated is not fair, we agree that they should not be booked until a full-proof investigation is carried out. Instead of amending the law we should try to improve our police system and investigating procedure. -Spokesperson Of The NCW, 14 /Jan /2007, TOI Article: “NRIs cry foul over IPC 498A, dowry law”
• I object to this exploitation of the law. It is wrong to misuse the law. The law is for those who need it. -Union Minister For WCD, Renuka Chaudhary, on the Arjun Singh 498A episode.

So why isn’t this law amended to at least introduce some checks and balances to prevent its abuse?

The answer lies in the fact that this whole thing is a profitable venture for all concerned, including internationally funded NGOs like CSR

Finally, take a look at total number of people arrested under this law.

Total Arrests Under 498A Since 2004 (NCRB)

There are more people arrested under this law than those accused of MURDER!

It is the families, especially women, who get caught up in this extortion racket who pay for the perfidy of this establishment !

Shame !!! Shame !! Shame !!

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Read this doc: The Witches Brew: Understanding What The Feminazi Of India Was Concocting

An Excerpt:

“Now I ask the judges, in the light of data and statistics, what do they mean when they say that women are misusing the law?

In the judgement of justice J.D. Kapoor in which he says a lot of women are misusing the law and its time to stop this misuse. It is called myth of misuse. I challenge any judge to produce statistics of so called misuse of law. I would urge them to see statistics under 304B and compare them with statistics under 498A from which they would come to the conclusion that far from being used
498A is a dead letter and if at all there is any so called misuse, it is by the police and if at all you need to pull up anybody, pull up the police. I have to unfortunately say that lawyers also urge their clients, when they come to them, to put in things in the complaint which may or may not be true. I was hoping, I don’t think we have entirely succeeded in that effort, to come up with a very simple statute- simple computerized form/simple applications which perhaps a woman can fill on her own and file and that just as courts accept letters as petition under section 226 and under article 32,” -Indira Jaising

Now read these words of wisdom:

“It is being said that even normal bickering is being complained under this statute before the Courts. It enables a complaint to be filed on the plea that her husband asked the complainant to take leave from work because their son was unwell. Mr. Soli Sorabjee in an article has rightly pointed out that the “definition of verbal and emotional abuse, which includes inter alia insults and name calling, can cause problems in the absence of any definition of these terms.” He goes on to say that, “definitions which are overbroad and bristle with ambiguities, should be narrowly and precisely defined, lest the Act becomes a paradise for lawyers and a nightmare for the enforcement authorities.” Having said all this, I shall however fail in my duty if I don’t apprise you of the judicial functions which are being ably discharged by the judges in all courts. This statute has conferred jurisdiction on a criminal court, that is the court of the Magistrate and empowered it to deal with matters which were otherwise within the jurisdiction of courts higher in the hierarchy. Thereby, a woman in distress has to compete for judicial time with the numerous criminal cases in the already heavily burdened courts. Matters relating to family and home are more time consuming than cases involving other issues” -Justice Gita Mittal

• Indira Jaisings Presentatiion To Some UN Agency

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Here is the judgment which explains the applicability of 498A. The accused were finally acquitted of all charges by the SC after the HC and the morons in the lower court failed to see the reality.

An excerpt:

11. Section 498A reads as follows:

“498A: Husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty- Whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation For the purpose of this section ‘cruelty’ means

(a) any willful conduct which is of such a nature as is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health (whether mental or physical) of the woman; or

(b) Harassment of the woman where such harassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meet any unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on account of failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.”

12. Consequences of cruelty which are likely to drive a woman to commit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health, whether mental or physical of the woman is required to be established in order to bring home the application of Section 498A IPC. Cruelty has been defined in the Explanation for the purpose of Section 498A.

Here is the judgment:  SC Explains The Applicability Of Section 498A In A Judgment

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“Feminism in India has no integrity. You can’t trust it”

- Madhu Purnima Kishwar

It’s time to reflect.

I was thrust into this mess on account of the ill advised actions of my ex-wife and her conniving father. The 498A was filed as means to force me into a settlement (they had my family in custody) or to take her back and sell myself for a large sum of money.

I knew about 498A the day I filed for divorce, except, as time went by, I let down my guard and expected her to go her way and not resort to these tricks. I hoped she would gauge the depth of this pile of dung before jumping in. Fond hope on my part.

While my family was in custody and was being terrorized by the police, I looked for info on the web and talked to SIF volunteers. The SIF volunteers were great and were available round the clock. I can’t thank them enough, but, the info given didn’t go very far. I failed to understand the extent and depth of the mess my family and I were tossed into. In short, I was given helpful suggestions, but they were not applicable to my case and my situation.

The info on the web was sketchy at the best and inaccurate at the worst. An example was about the meaning of cognizable*, which was portrayed as the unrestricted power of the police to arrest, which is inaccurate.

*In a cognizable offense, the police are duty bound to register and investigate the complaint. Cognizable does not mean that the police can arrest you upon the filing of the FIR. They are required to investigate as a first step. 498A is a cognizable offence.

After writing a bunch of memos and press notes, enduring the rantings of Ranjana Kumari, Girija Vyas and the random Feminazis of India in the press, I was restless and felt a pervasive sense of not doing enough. I ended up feeling depressed due to internecine squabbles in the movement, triggered mostly by stupidity, petty egos and sometimes by genuine differences of opinion.

At this point I was introduced to blogging thanks to the idiocy of a bunch of embittered ex-wives, who spewed venom and gloated about the trouble they got their ex-hubbies and their families into. I was enraged over the fact that they felt smug about the plight of their mothers and sisters in law. I started blogging to mock them and developed an appreciation for the possibilities that blogging opens up. As a footnote, I take full credit for shutting them down.

I felt the need for A Guide To Surviving IPC 498A, as at this stage, though I knew and understood a lot, it was obvious to me that there was nothing anywhere that tied it all together or served as a repository of information.

The motivation to educate others about their Fundamental Rights was given by the book by Prof Som K Shah, Faith Belied, which mentioned Joginder Kumar Vs The State Of UP, which, for the first time, detailed the limits on the powers of the police to arrest.

Taking that as a base, I started digging and soon found DK Basu Vs State Of WB and more judgments from the Supreme Court. Initially I focused on the judgments curtailing/defining the powers of the Indian Police. I got pretty good at digging up judgments at Judis.

Around this time, I received a gift from the gods, in the form of a Judgment by Justice Shiv Narain Dhingra, which is now popularly known as the 498A Income Tax judgment. This and the following judgments by him were my first posts.

I put all this together and wrote up the Survivor’s Guide To IPC 498A. I did have some friends proof read it and had to edit it, as my anger was apparent in tone and the choice of words. As an example, I referred to the 498A wives as bitches. Nothing wrong with that, except, when writing, moderation should be exercised, to reach out to a wider audience.

I kept digging through Judis and the web and as I came across relevant judgments and material, I blogged them in order to serve as a repository of information.

By July, I had it all together, but had to wait until November to inaugurate the 498A Survival Kit, as I was having the document reviewed for accuracy by a former IPS officer.

By then, I was burnt out and decided to walk away for a short time. Upon my return, I was able to have the Gujju version up. I also made a major update and uploaded it.

The blog averages over 400 visitors a day and they are from all over the world. Check out the cluster map on the lower right side of this page, to see the spread. It also looks like I may have a small but regular set of readers, though I don’t know who they are.

498A and the associated asinine laws, though formulated with good intentions, are inherently flawed. The establishment has taken advantage of these flaws and it is now an extortion racket feeding the ravenous appetite of the corrupt Indian Police force, the lower judiciary, NGOs like CSR, statutory bodies like the NCW and worse, has become a component of vote bank politics.

Who cares if more than a 100,000 women have been arrested in 4 years, or the Indian criminal justice system is clogged, or the fact that the real victims of domestic violence or dowry harassment will never get justice as the cases will drag on for years due to the numerous frivolous cases that have been filed?

As depressing as this situation seems, the tide is turning.

I have asserted, from the moment that I came across Joginder Kumar Vs State Of UP, that the police have been arresting people in 498A cases in contravention of the orders of the Supreme Court. My stand has been vindicated by the recent emergence of a memo from 2002, by the Hyderabad Comm Of Police, MV Krishna Rao, who forbade any 498A arrests without the authorisation of the DCP of the investigating officer. This is a standing order, in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment. Further vindication came in the form of the Delhi Police Commissioner issuing a circular forbidding 498A Arrests W/O Permission Of DCP

People on the ground are finally questioning the cops about arbitrary arrests and I expect this to spread, especially as the translations in the regional languages come into play.

I have made some lasting friendships in this time of my activism and also had to endure the idiocy of morons. This battle can be fought and will be won, though it will take time.

So how does one fight this hydra headed monster?

As a first step, it must be recognized that it is the radical feminists and crass opportunists of India, who are preventing any kind of a discussion or amendment to this flawed law from taking place. These radical feminists are like the Taliban. They are radical, they are stupid, they are corrupt and they will be defeated. The domestic violence act is their swan song and the sinking of the Sati Law is proof of their diminishing clout.

As a next step, it is essential to re-frame this fight as anything else other than that between men and women. The Feminazis got this far as they successfully portrayed themselves as “Abala Nari” vs the “Rakshas Ravana” .

SIF is fighting this as a way to protect the Indian family structure. The petrol pump scam tainted Girija Vyas, feeling the sting of the inroads made by SIF, is now attempting to claim this mantle. I feel that this issue can also be framed as a fight against corruption in India.

The Feminazis of India are like hyenas and vultures, they feed on the helpless. They have successfully pushed aside respected women rights activists like Madhu Kishwar and have hijacked the cause of the empowerment of women to serve their selfish ends. They are the enablers in setting the corrupt establishment upon vulnerable individuals and families. They play the role of useful idiots for the establishment, in return for access and privilege, and they have the MPs cowed. They have been attempting to intimidate the judiciary with varying degrees of success, under the garb of “gender sensitization”.

The Feminazis haven’t faced organized opposition due to the nature of this problem. This is not oppression of a particular caste, religion, language or sex. This is persecution of small units in this multitude of millions for the purposes of empty propaganda; to claim that the establishment has legislated laws for women, is pro women and thus pandering to a perceived vote bank. In reality, as with everything else, this is empty propaganda which enriches the establishment and nothing concrete is accomplished. If 100,000 women have been arrested in 4 years, you won’t hear a peep of protest as it doesn’t matter. They don’t count as a voting block as they are scattered across the country and so they won’t dent an election. Besides, who really understands fully the pernicious theory of vote-bank politics?. These numbers are a drop in the 500,000,000 women of India. In addition, these persecuted individuals and their families come from the middle and upper middle classes and they are spread out over the country with the only unifying thread being that they have been 498A’d or DV Act’d. Finally groups like SIF, though small in number are unifying and fighting the establishment.

The most prominent Feminazis are unmarried or divorced. Their temperament was never tempered by the pangs of birthing or gazing fondly upon their own flesh and blood, be it a boy or a girl. They want privilege, but don’t want to earn it, but want it handed over under the garb of equality. 498A and the DV Act have nothing to do with womens rights or feminism, these laws are designed to feed on the helpless and unsuspecting.

What do they have to gain from propagating and spreading this misery ? The explanation is simple. It is money, lifestyle, access to power and privilege, a paycheck and I don’t know what else. I can only stoop to a certain level of dirt in terms of speculating about motivation. Regardless they are the beneficiaries of this misery. They are backed up by large amounts of money in funds from the center or from the UN. They have the megaphone and can lock up the print media and the TV channels with their rants and propaganda.

But, alas, they have decisively lost the online battle. An example is the maligning of Justice Dhingra. Before the advent of this blog, anyone who read about him would pass him off as a male chauvinist and a sexist, thanks to the malicious propaganda of Indira Jaising.

I’ve set the record straight and effectively countered Indira Jaising’s mud slinging. She had made it her mission to malign Justice Dhingra at any given opportunity. As a writer with a guaranteed readership of at least 12,000 a month, I assert that Justice Shiv Narain Dhingra can be ranked amongst the greatest judges in the history of our nation. All you need to do is read his judgments, any judgments and you will understand what I mean. Those of us, who’ve been entangled in this mess need to thank the gods for their gift, in the form of this great judge.

I work hard, stay fit and have loads of fun and I don’t believe that I will ever marry again. My ex-wife gave me a precious gift, a gift so precious that few men would have ever received it. This is the ability to live alone and endure with ease, the pangs of loneliness. On the occasions that I felt it, all it took was a recollection of my life with her, of her nagging, her threats and accusations of incest and the blackmail she subjected me to, and I am back on my feet.

There is a lot to do, and I am an idea factory, but often, just like Cassandra, my words fall on deaf ears and I feel frustrated at the stupidity. This is the reason that I branched out, though I remain a SIF volunteer, and this is the reason for the existence today of the 498A Survival Kit. Fortunately, unlike Cassandra who ended up as a slave to the Greeks, I’ve been gaining in credibility and being listened to. The biggest example of this is the widening recognition of the importance of Joginder Kumar Vs State of UP, as a cornerstone of defense against arbitrary arrest by the 498A accused and activists.

As I drift away from this movement to resurrect my once promising career, I leave with a hope that I may have laid a foundation.

Getting back to the 498A wives, here is a song, whose message their parents should have drilled into their stupid heads: Itna Nazuk Na Bano.

I want to share with you the approach I took to get through my darkest days.

When ever you feel overwhelmed and unable to go on, just remember this, get through today and wait for tomorrow. Tomorrow will dawn, glorious and bright, and you can pick up where you left off, filled with energy after a night’s rest.

The 498A wives have a biological clock ticking. Each day you’ve gained is a day they’ve lost. Run out the clock on them. This is the way to beat them.

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Here is the judgment: SC 498A AB Judgment - 2003

Excerpts:

• From a careful reading of the said judgment we do not find any restriction or absolute bar on the concerned Court granting anticipatory bail even in cases where either cognizance has been taken or a chagesheet has been filed. This judgment only lays down a guideline that while considering the prima facie case against an accused the factum of cognizance having been taken and the laying of chargesheet would be of some assistance for coming to the conclusion whether the claimant for an anticipatory bail is entitled for such bail or not.
• We respectfully agree with the observations of this Court in the said case that the duration of anticipatory bail should be normally limited till the trial court has the necessary material before it to pass such orders and it thinks fit on the material available before it. That is only a restriction in regard to blanket anticipatory bail for an unspecified period. This judgment in our opinion does not support the extreme argument addressed on behalf of the learned counsel for the respondent-State that the courts specified in Section 438 of the Crl.P.C. are denuded of their power under the said Section where either the cognizance is taken by the concerned court or charge sheet is filed before the appropriate Court. As stated above this would only amount to defeat the very object for which Section 438 was introduced in the Crl.P.C. in the year 1973.

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• Immigrant spouse must be provided for despite divorce (NJ Appeals Court)
  

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This is for NRIs who had their kids taken away by their embittered spouses to their home countries.

Here is the pdf of the document: Afaf Nassar Khalifa Vs Michael Shannon

Here is the link to the news article from the Baltimore Sun

I sourced this from this blog: Parental Abduction is Child Abuse

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Here is the link:

Steps To Get Anticipatory Bail After You Are Hit By 498A!!

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Here is the link to the document:

Garg Vs Garg: NRI Child Custody Battle

This judgment from a US court clarifies a lot of issue relating to NRI child custody battles.

Here is another judgment for X-Ref:  Gahun Vs Gahun

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This document can be downloaded from the website of the US Dept Of Justice by clicking  here

What this document does is it describes the Uniform Child- Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (the UCCJEA),1 the most recent in a series of laws designed to deter interstate parental kidnapping and promote uniform jurisdiction and enforcement provisions in interstate child-custody and visitation cases. The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) is publishing this Bulletin to provide current information about the UCCJEA to legislators in States considering its adoption and to parents and practitioners in States that have already adopted the law. The Bulletin is not an official OJJDP endorsement of the Act.

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Here is the link: http://www.apstatepolice.org/html/appm/manch/c01.htm

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I pulled this from various sites on the net. The most common tactics of interrogation, used by the Indian police, is to beat a confession out of a suspect or intimidate the suspect into signing a confession.

My family was subjected to the tactic of intimidation. Among the many indignities heaped upon them, they were made to watch a suspect subjected to third degree treatment in their presence.

The Lakshmana Kailas story is a prime example of the interrogation techniques used by the ham handed Indian police.

Here is another, involving the torture of a juvenile. This is in the last paragraph

Here is a list of the most common interrogation techniques:

• Exaggerating the strength of their case: They tell you that they have recordings, fingerprints, documents, eyewitnesses, etc. All of this may true or all may be false but you simply don’t know because you are isolated. They try and get to you as soon as possible to play on your fears and work that confused state of mind to their advantage.
• Good cop, bad cop: this is an age-old tactic. The police will work in teams of good cop and bad cop. The bad cop will shout at you and attempt to intimidate you, and may even rough you up. The good cop walks in and will apply the healing solution. He may even yell at the bad cop. Apart from exchanging pleasantries, speak to him about all other things at your own risk.
• Comparison: They will convince you that they think you are the least to blame for what happened and that, therefore, you will not suffer as severe a sentence. It’s the other guys they are really after and if you cooperate, they will put a good word in for you.
• Small talk/Chit chatting: What is critical to getting the ultimate admission is to get you talking in the first place - about anything - usually in a “friendly” manner. They will try and find something that you have in common and just have a regular conversation. Then, when you feel comfortable just talking, they will move into the area of the crime. It’s the old story about the frog - try and place him in the boiling pot and he will jump out immediately. But put him in a cold pot and then slowly turn up the heat, he will die before he knows what happened to him.
• Separation: if the accused, like in most 498A cases, belong to a family, then the family members may be separated and each will be told that the other confessed. Watch out for this. This is the most pernicious tactic in my opinion.
• Threats And Intimidation: This is the standard operating procedure. The police may threaten to book you under more charges. Wish them the best. These charges need to be proven in court and lies don’t stand up to impartial, intelligent scrutiny. There will threats of physical violence, direct or suggested. Just stand up to it.
• Promises: They will cut a “deal” with you or “put a good word in” for you. Don’t be fooled. They have no power whatsoever to make deals - only prosecutors can do that and, even then, the judge is never bound by any bargain.
• Furniture And Spatial Psychology: When in the interview room look out for use of furniture. The power of persuasion is greater when the interviewer removes the barrier of the desk that creates a division of “their” space and “your” space. It is common for the interviewers to touch the suspect in a gesture of support and friendship. If the interviewer is on the opposite side of the table, such a gesture is limited. You best defense is to SHOW NO EMOTION. The whole atmosphere inside a police station is geared towards creating an environment of stress so as to break down the suspects morale. It is easy to accept the hand of friendship in such a situation, DON’T break your silence. You, as the suspect, will have your back to the door. This is done to make you feel apprehensive each time someone comes into the room. In addition, the seat for the solicitor will be out of your eye line. The interviewer will often fall silent, putting pressure on you to fill in these “pregnant pauses” - maintain your silence.
• Expressions Of Approval: Look out for expressions of approval, both verbal and non verbal. Verbal: “That’s good”, “Yes, go on” and “I like that approach”. Non verbal: smiling, nodding, looking at a fellow interviewer as if to say “She’s/he’s right you know.” These are all indications of the frame of mind of the interviewer. You may be offered compliments e.g. “You’re no fool”, etc. Non verbal compliments such as a little shake of the head as if to say that I admire you for saying that. The principle behind all this is to make the suspect feel good and to encourage further dialogue.

CHRI has brought out a flier about police interrogation —> CHRI Police Interrogation

Have your lawyer with you at all times and maintain your silence. The right against self incrimination is a fundamental right.

The police cannot torture you or extract a confession out of you either. This is illegal and if they do so, they are in contempt of the many judgments of the Supreme Court in this regard.

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Folks,

I updated the document/e-book to reflect the new judgments and added the following:

• Table Of Contents for chapter 1
• What is AB?
• Passport cannot be impounded judgment
• Delhi HC RTI judgment
• Mentioned AP police memo on NO Arrests- (Joginder Kumar Vs State Of UP)
• Expanded On Jurisdiction
• Explained Quash petitions
• Interrogation tactics used by cops
• NRI cases jurisdiction
• Case lost in foreign court cannot be re-fought in India
• Compounding a non compoundable case

In addition, the document is fully bookmarked for easy navigation in Adobe Acrobat. Please enable bookmarks to make it easier for yourself to navigate.

Here is the link to the document:

A Guide To Surviving IPC 498A

The rest of the material is here:

The 498A Survival Kit

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The courts have always been reluctant to quash a case under Section 482 IPC.

I have written about it here: Understanding High Court Quash Petitions (Section 482 Of CrPC)

The best explanation of the view of the courts, in my opinion, has been given by Justice Dhingra.

This is what he says:

“While exercising powers under Section 482 of the Cr. P.C. the Court has to keep in mind that it should not ordinarily embark upon an enquiry whether the evidence in question is reliable or not or whether on a reasonable appreciation of it accusation would not be sustained. This is a function of the Trial Court. Though the judicial process should not be an instrument of oppression or needless harassment but the Court should be circumspect and judicious in exercising discretion and should take all relevant facts and circumstances in consideration before issuing process under Section 482 lest the Section becomes an instrument in the hands of accused persons to claim differential treatment only because the accused persons can spend money to approach higher forums. This Section is not an instrument handed over to an accused to short circuit a prosecution and bring about its sudden death. “

Here is the judgment I pulled this from : Justice Dhingra Explains Section 482

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I am posting this here for the US based NRIs with marital issues.

They are a group often maligned by the radical feminists and by the media. What is never highlighted is the fact that these men are often used by their bitter halves to piggy back to the US and then dumped after these spouses get their green cards. They find themselves facing 498A and other cases in India especially after their spouses lose their case in the US court.

In an NRI divorce judgment, Justice Dhingra says:

“The decree passed by the court of USA has not been challenged by the complainant. She herself submitted to the jurisdiction of the USA Court and contested the case. She was living, at the time of contesting, the case in USA and continued to live in USA even after passing of decree till 2002. She even preferred an appeal, which was dismissed. Thus, it is not a case where decree was obtained by her husband clandestinely or she had not submitted to the jurisdiction of the US Court or the US Court had no jurisdiction. Once a competent Court has passed an order in respect of return or exchange of articles including dowry articles, no offence under Section 406 IPC can be tried for the same articles in India.”

NRI spouses with GCs are required to obey US laws, implicitly acceding to US jurisdiction. It is a responsibility, like paying taxes in the US, that they are REQUIRED to fulfil. This is an agreement they are signing when accepting the green card. These women may want to think twice before filing a case against their hubbies in India after getting their green cards. They may be faced with a contempt of court charges in the US if they try to challenge the divorce judgment in India after losing the case here.

Here is the text of the responsibilities:

• You are required to obey all of the laws of the United States, the States, and localities.
• You are required to file your income tax returns and report your income to the US Internal Revenue Service and State IRS.
• You are expected to support the democratic form of government and cannot attempt to change the government through illegal means.
• If you are a male, age 18 through 25, you are required to register with the Selective Service.

Here is the pdf: US Green Card Holders Rights And Responsibilities

Here is the link to the US CIS site where I pulled this information from.

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Here is the link with instructions on how to file complaints with the NHRC in the event that you are victims of highhanded behavior of govt agencies such as the corrupt Indian police force.

This link details: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Guidelines On Arrest

The document below is the complaint form and contains instructions on how to file the complaint:

http://nhrc.nic.in/Documents/Compformat.pdf

Guidelines on how to file complaint with the NHRC:
1. Complaint may be made to the Commission by the victim or any other person on his behalf.
2. Complaint should be in writing either in English or Hindi or in any other language included in the eighth schedule of the Constitution. Only one set of complaint needs to be submitted to the Commission.
3. Complaint may be sent either by Post or Faxed at Nos. 91-11-23382911/ 23382734 or through e-mail covdnhrc@nic.in
4. No fee is chargeable on such complaints.
5. The complaint shall disclose i) violation of human rights or abetment thereof or; (ii) negligence in the prevention of such violations, by a public servant.
6. The jurisdiction of the Commission is restricted to the violation of human rights alleged to have been committed within one year of the receipt of complaint by the Commission.
7. Documents, if any enclosed in support of the allegations in the complaint must be legible.
8. Name of the victim, his/ her age, sex, religion/ caste, State and District to which the incident relates, incident date etc. should invariably be mentioned in the complaint.
9. Please submit the complaint preferably in the enclosed format.
10. Following types of Complaint(s) are not ordinarily entertainable:
i. Illegible
ii. Vague, anonymous or pseudonymous;
iii. Trivial or frivolous in nature;
iv. The matters which are pending before a State Human Rights Commission or any other Commission;
v. Any matter after the expiry of one year from the date on which the act constituting violation of human rights is alleged to have been committed;
vi. Allegation is not against any public servant;
vii. The issue raised relates to civil dispute, such property rights, contractual obligations, etc;
viii. The issue raised relates to service matters;
ix. The issue raised relates to labour/industrial disputes;
x. Allegations do not make out any specific violation of human rights;
xi. The matter is sub-judice before a Court/ Tribunal;
xii. The matter is covered by judicial verdict/decision of the Commission.
11. As far as possible complainants are encouraged to make use of the format given above to file their complaints. The guidelines indicate the kind of information, which would facilitate in processing a complaint.

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NHRC Publications

The Publications brought out by the National Human Rights Commission are either free or priced. In case it is a priced publication, then a Demand Draft for the amount that covers the cost of the book has to be made in favour of the National Human Rights Commission, New Delhi payable at New Delhi . Some Publications are available in electronic format on this website. To view or download, simply click on the appropriate link given below:

http://nhrc.nic.in/publications.htm

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The NHRC brought out this document on professional policing, something the goons in uniform need to read in order to understand what it means to be a police officer:

http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/ProfessionalPolicing.pdf

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