Misuse of 498A – Much Ado About Nothing? – Bikram Jeet Batra

I read this article at Indiatogether titled “Misuse of 498A – Much Ado About Nothing?” written by Bikramjeet Batra, a professed “Legal Officer” for Amnesty International (AI) India. I’ve  pasted a picture of this grinning idiot below:He opposes amending Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. He says: “Allegations have been made repeatedly that the penal code’s protection against matrimonial cruelty is often abused by women. But no evidence is given to support this claim”.

The fool blithely ignores the the fact that hundreds of thousands of Indians have been arrested on account of this law in violation of  their right to due process. If he is looking for evidence of abuse of this law, here is all the evidence he needs:

• Here is a post that details the statistics on the number of women arrested under this extortion racket.

• Here are some numbers from the Ministry Of Home Affairs, published by Hindustan Times in 2005. Unfortunately the article is lost but I have an excerpt:

  “According to data provided by Ministry of Home Affairs, there were 58,319 registered cases and 134,757 people underwent arrest under 498A and A and Dowry Prohibition Act. That is on average 2.3 people were arrested in every complaint of woman. There were 358 children and 4,744 senior citizens arrested. Out of 129,655 cases, approximately 18 per cent (23,337) were not charge sheeted and hence suffered only because these acts are non-bailable”

• NHRC Tells HC: Police Must Change Way Of Probing Dowry Related Cases

• Statistics On 498A Compiled By Rakshak.

His article was criticized and in response to the criticism, he wrote:

“Posted by Bikram Jeet Batra on May 24, 2005 11:29 AM

Does Section 498A get abused/ misused? Probably YES. Do other laws get abused/misused? Definitely YES. Why then does the discussion of removal remain restricted to this section alone. There is no law which cannot said to be free of miuse/abuse – false cases of murder, causing hurt etc are filed constantly.If the quantum of abuse if the issue – then there is need for some concerted statistical study – Perhaps co-relating the number of ‘abuse’ 498A complaints with ‘abuse’ cases under other section of the IPC and other laws in India. Such a study does not seem to exist yet. As for the media- one must ask why only abuse of 498A and SC/ST atrocities act makes it to the news-pages. Women’s groups have for long been advocating for a comprehensive Domestic Violence legislation and the campaign appears to be making headway. Such a legislation should reduce the pressure on this maligned section. 498A is not seen as the panacea for all problems yet we must resist attempts by patriarchal forces to water down/ remove this provision – that would be akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.”

“Patriarchal forces” ?Does this idiot not understand that 498A is just an extortion racket?

The moron doesn’t seem to be fazed by the arrest of entire families on the basis of an allegation. The unjust arrest of any individual is the violation of that person’s rights. As a”Legal Officer” of AI , he should have been at the forefront of the campaign to amend 498A and put an end to the widespread abuse of fundamental rights, and end its use as a tool for extortion  by corrupt police officers and embittered wives.

As a legal officer, he should have known about the Indian Supreme Court’s judgment, Joginder Kumar Vs State Of UP – 1994, which allows arrests only in the case of violent crimes. and only if warranted. He should have been protesting about the arrests made under Section 498A in violation of the Indian Supreme Court’s orders. Instead he is opposing the amendment to 498A.

This jackass may want to re-read the statute of Amnesty International again–he doesn’t seem to understand it.  I present it here:

VISION AND MISSION

1. Amnesty International’s vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. In pursuit of this vision, Amnesty International’s mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of these rights.

It’s surprising that anyone belonging to Amnesty International, which has sworn to fight for Human Rights around the world, would oppose the amendment of 498A . Unless you are well connected, entire families are arrested by the Indian police in violation og due process right when FIRs are filed under 498A. 

How can Amnesty International condone this duplicity by its Indian “Legal Officer” ?.

Over a 100,000 women have been arrested between 2004 and 2007. Will this “legal officer” of AI have anything to say about this ?

Its time this moron focused on the real issues that fall within the statute of AI than on “Sexy Issues” like abolishing the death penalty in India.

Dim wits like Bikramjeet Batra have no marketable skills and are unable to hack in the world. They just find it easy  to mouth inanities rather than fight the real fight.

It is a waste of my time to dwell any further on the drivel of this nut, but I will leave you with a link which explains why coercive legislation like 498A is ineffective:

• Madhu Purnima Kishwar On The Ineffectiveness Of Coercive Legislation Like 498A

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Role Of The Public Prosecutor

The public prosecutor in my case turned out to be another moron who hired his position out. Initially the jackass  refused to show up in court by taking off on leave and caused unnecessary delays in obtaining bail and then offered not to oppose the bail application for a “consideration”.

This is the reason for this post, the role of the public prosecutor.

I came across this article at this site: http://www.amanpanchayat.org/

The link to the article is here: The Role Of The Public Prosecutor

Here is a link to another article by Vikram Jeet Batra in Indiatogether.
Here is an excerpt:

“Given that prosecution of crimes in conducted by the state on behalf of victims, it is astonishing that the justice system provides little space for the victim. At present the victim’s role is recognised only to the extent that s/he is a prosecution witness. Even here the large number of victim-witnesses turning hostile is testament to the harassment and intimidation they face within the system. Another space where victims can form part of the prosecution process is by appointing a lawyer to assist the prosecution. While the victim’s lawyer has a wider role in the Magistrate’s Courts, this is far reduced in the Sessions Courts where s/he must act under the direction of the public prosecutor.”

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