What steps should be taken by the complainant to prove the charges under Section 498-A and get the accused to be convicted?
That conviction rate in Section 498-A of IPC is very low. There are several reasons for this. The low conviction rate is not limited to Section 498-A. It spreads to widdth and breadth of various sections of IPC. The conviction rate in Section 300 (murder), S. 306 (abetment to suicide), S. 307 (attempt to murder), S. 354 (outrage the modesty of woman, it is a very important section to know where the victim and accused are not related to each other, but the conviction rate is abysmally low, lower than S. 498-A), S.376 (rape) etc. etc. is very low. It is pertinent to mention here that in other criminal Acts, such as TADA, POTA etc. the conviction rate was very low before repealing those Acts. That the conviction is not there does not mean that offence has not occured. It means only that the accused is not culprit and the offence in relation to the accused is not proved beyond reasonable doubt. Taking the example of murder case, where dead body is there, post-mortem report is there, weapon of offence and direct eye witnesses are there and even then, the prosecution fails to prove the case and it does not mean that the murder has not happened. It means that the accused is not a murderer. The same meaning applies to Section 498-A.
If in other IPC offences also the conviction rate is so low, then why this much noise about 498-A and its misuse? The reason behind this has got social and economic reasons. Most of the accused in S. 498-A cases belong to middle and upper middle class, where as the accused in the other sections of IPC generally belong to poorer sections of the society (exceptions are there, please). That Section 498-A accused are not habitual offenders of other criminal acts. Next, most important is that the offence described in Section 498-A is not perceived by most of the people of the society (it includes women) as “offence”. For example, Section 498-A (a) part says that any wilful conduct........cause......(whether mental.....or physical). This conduct need not related to dowry. If that wilful conduct by the husband or relative of husband causes mental agony, S.498-A attracts. But, really such thing happens to a woman and she complains about it, the society around her including her parents do not accept that it is an offence. They say it as a routine thing in matrimonial matters.
It is very important for the general public, women welfare groups, investigating authority (Police) as well as legal community and judicial authorities to understand the full meaning of Section 498-A. Section 498-A (a), there is no reference of dowry. Hence, if the cruel act does not relate to dowry, then also, complainant can invoke this provision and that cruel act is an offence and punishable.
Here is one of the reasons that why S.498-A cases fail. The complainant comes to the advocate of complainant / police station having a complaint against her husband and / or his relatives in relation to cruel acts perpetrated against her. The cruel act may be physical or mental. Now, the advocate / duty officer of police station think that mere reducing whatever she complains cannot make a strong case, as dowry demand has not arisen. Hence, immediately advises her to raise the complaint of harassment coupled with dowry demand. Hence, the complaint is made with the facts far, far away from truth. Had the complaint be reduced in its original form as dictated by the complainant and an intelligent and honest A.P.P./P.P. would have conducted the prosecution, there were better chances to provide justice to the complainant and accused could be convicted without reference to dowry. All the time, all the cruel acts as described law, need not be connected with dowry demand. Then also those cruel acts are punishable under Section 498-A, if prosecution is conducted properly.
Next, unfortunately bringing all the relatives of the husband into the complaint net, even though they are not related to offence. The duty officer/the advocate will advise her to do the same, as the pressure can be built up against the accused and his blood relations, so that dowry articles and istri dhan can be retrieved at the time of anticipatory bail/bail application. (If the dowry and/or istri dhan has to be retrieved from matrimonial home, appropriate legal procedure has to be followed and not by filing S.498-A case against the innocent). Hence, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law living in faraway places, not related to offence, are referred in the complaint. This again dilutes the seriousness of the complaint and victim does not get justice and the real culprit gets away scot free at the end of the trial and unfortunately innocent are put behind bars at the initial stage of investigation till they get bail. If the complaint contains 25% truth, which attracts penal punishment under Section 498-A and 75% untruth, in the trial, the accused gets the benefit. At the time of reducing the complaint into FIR, the duty officer / the advocate of the complainant knows the outcome of the case and even then lures her to give such complaint, which is mixture of truth as well as false and ultimately the benefactor is the accused and not complainant.
THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING. IF YOU WANT RECONCILIATION WITH THE HUSBAND, NEVER, NEVER FILE SECTION 498-A, TILL THE CONCILIATION PROCEDURES TOTALLY FAIL AND YOU COME TO DEFINITE CONCLUSION THAT HE IS INCORRIGIBLE BRUTE AND THERE IS NO SCOPE AND LIFE TO LIVE WITH HIM.
Now, keeping these things in mind, follow the following a few Tips to successfully conduct Section 498-A case.
1. Stick to the truth, nothing but truth.
2. Sit in isolated and calm place, write yourself the complaint, in the language, whichever is convenient for you.
3. The complaint has to be addressed to S.H.O. (Station House Officer)/In-charge, CAW (Crime Against Women cell) and a copy can be forwarded to D.C.P. (S.S.P.) and Commissioner of Police(I.G. of Police). If FIR is not registered, these copies will be helpful for intervention of concerned magistrate / High Court to give appropriate directions.
4. Now the most important thing. What should be there in the complaint? The cruel acts perpetrated against you shall be mentioned. The incidents must be chronological wise (means date wise). The descripttion must be crisp. Place, time and the offenders have to be mentioned. If any verbal abuse is there, that has be given in quotes (if you remember). I will give an example to explain this point.
“On 6th May, 2008 at about 6.00 P.M. my husband came back from office and sat on the sofa in the sitting room. At that time, my father-in-law and mother in law were sitting on other sofa and were watching the T.V. My husband asked me to serve him a cup of tea. I prepared it and took it to him. After having a single sip, he threw the entire tea on my face, shouting “where is the sugar in the tea? You are becoming lazy day by day, you do nothing except to eat away my money and keep your entire salary in your bank account”. My face has burnt due to pouring of hot tea. My younger sister, who came on that evening to meet me, immediately rushed to bathroom and brought “burnal” and applied the same on my face”.
“On 9th May, 2008 at 9.00 A.M........”
“On 26th May, at about 8.00A.M......”
Again I emphasise that stick to the facts and no fiction.
After writing this complaint, read thoroughly time and again for several times and make proper factual, grammar and sentence structure corrections. It is your complaint.
What should you do with this complaint, I explain in the next part, which I would post as soon as possible.
Good bye, till then....
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