Now that 3-bench of Supreme Court (SC) India has brought back the provisions of immediate arrest in 498A cases and Dowry Harassment cases undoing the previous orders of having Family Welfare Committees on whose recommendations the FIR was supposed to be done, the same fear of misuse of law lurks upon the head of husbands and family members.

The law has tilted to woman’s side once again protecting her from the harassment and pain faced in the hands of husband and his family member.

See the example yourself.

Filing Dowry Harassment Complaint
Filing Dowry Harassment Complaint and Cruelty

FIR has been registered straight away under sections 323 (voluntary causing hurt), 406 (criminal breach of trust) pertaining to istridhan, 498 A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) and 506 (criminal intimidation) on the basis of Medical reports and preliminary probe by the Police Authorities.

The powers have been given to police authorities to make immediate arrests once again.

So one must be vigil and as soon as things go wrong between husband & wife, Anticipatory Bail is the way to go for everyone in the family. You don’t know who’s name will be coming in the FIR later. A precaution will go a long way in preventing the misuse of the provision.

The only succour given by the 3-Judge bench is now the bail be heard on the same day if moved before the magistrate who can exercise his full discretion while allowing anticipatory bail.

The Anticipatory Bail can be moved at both levels :

1 District & Sessions Judge of your District

2 Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh

3 Court of Judicial Magistrate

The offence of 498 A is both non-congnisable and non-bailable. Thus, cops can pick you anytime from your home if they found prima facie offence against you.

The husbands or Mother and father of the individuals can move for pre-arrest bail before the appropriate forum in case they alleged any foul play by the wife or their family members when registration of the FIR is done.

Now the threat and dreadful fear of misuse of 498 A is back in husbands who are struggling with their married lives and don’t expect any solution soon because they know these cases will surface from nowhere one day.

Now the courts are assigned with the heavy duty tasks to weed out the false cases of 498 A and dowry harassment from the genuine ones and take timely action towards each one them subject to facts of the case.

Quick steps/procedure/process to file Dowry Complaint, 498 A (Cruelty) and 406 (allege misuse of istridhan given at the time of marriage):

1 Give the complaint at your nearest Police Station, suitably to Female Officer. The complaint will be moved to Woman Cell for appropriate action.

2 Don’t forget to collect all your evidences before regarding demands, list of articles given at the time of marriage, history of medical examination where domestic violence was done, videos and whatsapp chat history etc. Don’t leave anything to the guess work.

3 Record your statements without any fear and be consistent in your testimony.

The concerned Police officer will do the necessary initial probe and if prima facie offence is made out against the husband along with family members, FIR would be registered.

The Inquiry Officer may or may not give opportunity to husband for clearing his stand on the complaint and thus fear of immediate arrest would arise in these situations.

Recommended to engage an expert Family lawyer in matrimonial matters who can take you & your family members out of this difficult situation. Prevention is anytime better than the cure and so what if it is a paid legal advice. Remember, it is worth it rather than spending even a day inside the jail.

For more info, please dial 99888-17966.