In a big relief to husbands and their families facing false dowry harassment cases, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the hands of the police to arrest those accused under IPC Section 498A till such time a committee comprising legal service volunteers explores the possibility of a settlement.
The Court said that such Family Welfare Committees will be constituted in each district. However, the order of the apex court will not apply to cases where the wife has died or sustained “tangible physical injuries”, the court said.
The Bench of Justices Adarsh Goel and UU lalit passed the order while dealing with a case of dowry harassment filed in Uttar Pradesh against the husband, his parents, unmarried brother and sister.
laying down guidelines to ensure misuse of IPC Section 498A stops, the Bench said, “Certain safeguards against uncalled for arrest or insensitive investigation have been addressed by this court. Still, the problem continues to a great extent. To remedy the situation, we are of the view that involvement of civil society in the aid of administration of justice can be one of the steps, apart from the investigating officers and the concerned trial courts being sensitised.”
The Bench felt that in many cases chances of a genuine settlement can be examined by the Committee by giving them a month’s time. If settlement is reached, the concerned Magistrate shall close the case and even consider granting bail.
Helping the Court to arrive at these directions, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) AS Nadkarni and senior advocate V Giri submitted that as per National Crime Records Bureau report of 2013, out of 4.66 lakh cases under this Section, 7258 led to conviction, 38165 ended in acquittal, and 8218 cases stood withdrawn. Even SC in 2014 directed police to apply their mind before automatically arresting accused under this provision.