Raajeev Sampat. (Self employed.) 18 August 2011

498.

Kindly advice.

1)For a woman to file 498 against husband does the woman need to give proof to register it?

2)And if the proof is needed to register a 498 what are the things that are required as proof?

3)Which is the best way for a husband to prevent himself from getting arrested from 498.What can he do in advance before his wife registers the 498 agaisnt him if he gets an idea that she is going to file one?

Kindly advice.

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3 Replies

Parth Chandra (none) 18 August 2011

1) 498a is congnizable offence - It means that Police/Magistrate may belive if there is a possibility of the crime. Now since when a Women lives in in-laws/husband's house and since Husband is belived to be stronger physically - Police in 99% cases registers the case beliving the possibility of such crime (In reality they are bribed but that is a different topic) - The answer to your first question is NO SHE NEED NOT TO PROOVE ANYTHING FOR REGISTERING THE CASE BUT SHE WOULD HAVE TO PROOVE TO CONVICT YOU WHEN THE CASE RUNs (AFTER 3-4 Years of registering :-))

2) She may or may not give any circumstantial evidence but that is not necessary when police is bribed or influenced otherwise.

3) The best way is to get Anticipatory bail for all immediate family member if you are financially sound - or get stay on arrest (Not sure about this option). If you are not financially sound and if you have some evidence to proove that you have never treated her badly then you can produce it while getting regular bail but in this process you may need to be behind bars for a day or two before police produce you to court after arresting. HENCE THE BEST WAY IS TO GET Anticipatory Bail if you are financially sound and IF NOT then lock the home and start residing in some of your relatives home on whom you can trust and ask your neighbour to keep an eye on your home to see if police comes.

One advice from myside - hire a trustworthy and hard working lawyer in the your in-law's city and ask him to keep an eye on police station under which your in-laws house is situated.

Regards,

Raajeev Sampat. (Self employed.) 18 August 2011

In this case the wife and husband are living apart for 2 years and in two different cities.Can the wife still file 498?

Parth Chandra (none) 18 August 2011

Two version which she can use if she is upto filing it no one can stop her.

1) If you have lived with her for one night ........ then she can file it...........saying that you and your family beaten her on the night of marriage and hence you are leaving apart.

2) She may say that she has just left the matrimonial home and police will belive her as it is a cognizable offence and police need not to come to you to ask the truthfulness of the case (They should ideally as per home ministries guidelines but then they won't get bribe from both side)

That is why I will stick to my previous post as Ideally as per recent guidelines from Home ministries they should call you to check the truthful ness of the case and should ask wife for some prima facie evidence before registering case or try to do counselling but no one does so. ......Still it depends on the state and city you might be living in...........but its always better to take preventive actions as suggested if you are so inclined to believe the possibility of 498a.

BEFORE SPENDING MORE TIME ....... TALK TO A LAWYER.