The papers have been abuzz with the news of this judgment. What the Supreme Court did was further narrow down the definition of cruelty that 498A can be applied towards.
A bench of Justices S B Sinha and Cyriac Joseph said:
Allegations that appellant No. 2 (mother-in-law) kicked the respondent with her leg and told her that her mother to be a liar may make out some other offence but not the one punishable under Section 498A (cruelty). Similarly, her allegations that the mother-in-law poisoned the ears of her son against the respondent; she gave two used lady suits of her daughter to the complainant and has been given perpetual sermons to the complainant could not be said to be offences punishable under Section 498A. Even threatening that her son may be divorced for the second time could not bring out the offence under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code.
The hon’ble judges also don’t have any nice things to say about Monika. In a restrained manner, they say:
We have, however, made note of the litigations filed between the parties in great detail. These litigations, if a holistic view is taken, depict a sad state of affairs, namely, that the respondent, on the one hand, intends to take all coercive measures to secure the presence of her husband and the appellants in India in various cases filed by her and, on the other hand, she had repeatedly been making attempts of conciliation.
Nice work Monika. You are very famous now and will live in the blogosphere in infamy!!
The likes of Monika have enabled uniformed criminals to jail over 1,30,000 women since 2004. You can read about these stats here:
NCRB: Over 1,30,000 Women Arrested Under 498A Since 2004
Here is the judgment: Bhaskar Lal Sharma Vs Monika-2009
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parties in great detail. These litigations, if a holistic view is taken, depict a
sad state of affairs, namely, that the respondent, on the one hand, intends to
take all coercive measures to secure the presence of her husband and the
appellants in India in various cases filed by her and, on the other hand, she
had repeatedly been making attempts of conciliation.
IPC 498A 
SC just says that even if the DIL has been kicked by MIL, the allegation does not fall within the perview of cruelty as defined in 498a. 498a is an assumptive law, which does nor require any evidence or proof while filing.
However if the MIL is found guilty of truly kicking her DIL during trial, then the MIL should be punished as per the appropriate IPC but NOT as per 498a, which requires definition of cruelty to such an extent, that it should cause her grave injury or cause her to commit suicide.
498a should be amended immediately so that when the wife has been found that she has filed a false complaint for ulterior motive just to harrass her inlaws, and she cannot prove her allegations in trial beyond reasonable doubt, then she should be severly punished for wasting the courts valuable time.
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SIFMember says
Thats a great post.
I had spent almost two hours to read the whole judgement and make some conclusion about it.
My suggestion will be to read judgement of Delhi high Court (Savitri Devi vs Ramesh Chand, May 2003) along with the judgement in question.
Savitri Devi vs Ramesh Chand judgement clearly defines what can be termed as mental and how this dacronian laws are prone to be misused with a suggestion to the legislatures to ammend these laws (bailable and compoundable)
Now my question is where were they when these laws were being enacted. Why didn’t they raise their voice that these laws are going to be misused. Is it like only the DIL has dignity and self respect, MIL and others (including married/unmarried sisters, pregnant ladies of the house, elderly parents in their eighties, school going kids and to the extent even a 2 months old girl child) donot have dignity and self respect. For the time being I am keeping the males aside. Why are they not raising their voice for the women (who are arrested and sent to jail for days together) for a single line complaint by the DIL that she has been harrassed. This happens even without a proper investigation. This has been happening for last 26 years, why did not you raise your voice against its misuse, knowing the facts that Honourable President and CJI has said that these laws are grossly being misused.
Don’t be opportunist by raising voice only for something which can garner votes for you. Now everybody is targetting the women for their vote banks.
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R&B singer Chris Brown, 19, released a public apology to Rihanna and all his fans on the 20th of July saying,”I can only ask and pray that you forgive me.”
In the video, Brown told his fans that he was ashamed of his behaviour towards Rihanna, 21.”What I did was unacceptable, 100 per cent. I can only ask and pray that you forgive me. Please,” he said. Addressing his fans, Brown says, “As many of you know, I grew up in a home where there was domestic violence, and I saw first-hand what uncontrolled rage could do. I have sought and I am continuing to seek help to ensure that what occurred in February can never happen again.”
I think he is setting a good example in apologizing. Its the beginning of a new era. Every wife beater / abuser should follow his footsteps.
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Great site and valuable info for people getting harassed in such cases of misuse of law.
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The protection given under the section 498a has to be relooked in so far as it relates to its bad usage.
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