The abuse of law by Women - a threat to Indian Judiciary
Kushagra Sharma
ADVOCATE [Criminal Law(s) Practitioner] "CO-OPTED MEMBER OF LEGAL AID COMMITTEE" (YEAR 2022) BAR COUNCIL OF NATIONAL CAPITAL TERRITORY?(NCT) OF DELHI.
Women who misuse it & Men who bears it:
“To be born a man in India is a crime. And to marry an Indian girl is a heinous crime. And this is because of anti-men laws in the name of laws to protect women.”
Is it an Issue with your EGO or your SPIRIT?
India regularly gets hauled over the coals for its shabby treatment of women but never gave a thought about women harassing a man?
Recently men’s rights activists scored a significant victory in India when the Supreme Court essentially identified them as the victims in domestic violence cases. The judges weren’t making the law gender-neutral, however. They stated that Indian women were filing inaccurate claims of domestic violence.
“Most of such complaints are filed in the heat of the moment over trivial issues”. It went on to state that women were not visualizing the “implications and consequences” of registering a criminal complaint against their abusive husbands. “Uncalled for arrest may ruin the chances of settlement” and because of this sometimes the victims are turned up to be a culprit in this country.
Whereby, an absolutely horrifying case is trending these days from Amity, Noida, where two girls not only asked a gang of 25-30 goons to beat up the victims brutally over a lame parking argument but filed a false molestation case on them, whereas one of the victim has been declared dead and one is still fighting for his life in ICU.
If using the rights given by the Indian constitution for threatening somebody and still being safe is women’s right then I don’t think we were a woman deserve these laws? Women rights are given for protection and these days women are using it as a shield to make the victim sound as their culprit.
This assumed belief leads to disappointments, that courts are places where innocents get harassed, so the only way to get justice is to harass the opponents and thereby that harassment will force them to come to the bargaining table and close the cases.
The only way to stop false cases is to work towards rigorous prosecution of all false cases and false pieces of evidence, including the wrong investigation by police.
Indian society laughs on a man when he says he has been raped. India ridicules any complaint about male rape. Indian feminists and society think that only men are perpetrators of a heinous crime like rape and they don’t get that even women can rape a man. This is so disgusting; Owing to such psyche there are no laws for men who are survivors of rape.
One could list at great length of many problems that afflict men today, including the male suicide epidemic, the paucity of resources for male victims of domestic violence and the falling behind of young men and boys in education. However, there is one fundamental factor related to all these problems that men encounter: there is a lack of mainstream acceptance of systemic men’s issues which is compounded by the absence of male advocacy groups with a broad remit to make the case at a political level and the level of the media.
Men have started sharing their agony, torture, and harassment by women/spouses. It is time to recognize their problem as a social and public health issue and develop appropriate strategies and interventions. They are no longer stronger than women. They need help in crisis and family violence: Particularly violence by a spouse is a crisis. Male victims of violence can be saved/helped through appropriate intervention such as recognition of violence against men by women as a public health issue; helpline for the male victims of violence; and education, awareness, and legal safeguards.
As in all moral panics, an accusation is enough to destroy a person’s life. Hysteria trumps evidence.
How Women Misuse Their legal Rights:
No law should be misused by anyone, An allegation by the women is not enough to make an arrest. The police must investigate the matter and then register a complaint, under the sections they deem fit.
In a landmark judgment, the Hon'ble Supreme Court had said that women are spreading legal terrorism in India.
More than 66% of respondents to a recent survey say laws for protection of women are being misused.
The survey was conducted by a group of St. Xavier's College students, aimed to look at?The social discrimination of men.
The purpose of the survey was to find the issues that men face like discrimination, harassment and so on. The basic idea was to promote awareness about men who are often seen as promoting patriarchy in society.
A total of 58.95% of the respondents said that men were threatened by laws for protecting women.
The Dowry Prevention Law (Section 498A/ 406 of IPC)is one of the most misused provisions of law in India and yet no modifications seem to have been made in it over the years.
This section was enacted to protect the dignity of a woman has become a widely misused weapon by them and is used to harass and blackmail their husband and his family. Once an FIR is filed under 498A/406 (IPC) it becomes a stooge in the hands of the police to harass the husband and all his relatives named in the FIR without an intrinsic worth or preliminary investigation. This provision further diminishes all chances of an amicable reconciliation between the couple. The prolonged trials further add bitterness to the already strained relationship between the families.
There have been ample cases where this law has been misused. Women use this law as a weapon to extort money out of their husbands at the time of divorce. Small incidents of little consequence are exaggerated in a large number of complaints.
According to a survey conducted by Fight against Misuse of Dowry law has revealed that 98% of the cases filed under section 498A is false.
Recently Supreme Court had modified its judgment to ensure there is no misuse of section 498A.
The Supreme Court said that, In every district one or more Family Welfare Committees be constituted by the District Legal Services Authorities preferably comprising of three members. Every complaint under Section 498A received by the police or the Magistrate be referred to and looked into by such committee.?Till report of the committee is received, no arrest should normally be effected.
After discussing all this, I would like to conclude that it is an accepted academic stand that sexism is systematic and structural, and that it involves the subordination of one group as a whole by another group which enjoys power and advantage in the system.?The locus of sexism is primarily in the system of framework, not in the particular act.
It is the patriarchal system itself which places the extra responsibilities on the male, and it may be the price that same men are paying for their overall advantageous position in the society. However, one must agree that the overall greater severity of the first sexism (sexism against women) does not imply that the second sexism (sexism against men) should be denied, ignored or tolerated.
India court says women 'misusing' dowry law
India's Supreme Court has said that women are increasingly misusing the tough anti-dowry law to harass their husbands and in-laws.
The judges said the law was enacted to help women, but it was being used as "a weapon by disgruntled wives".
The court has now ordered the police to follow a nine-point checklist before arresting anyone on a dowry complaint.
Correspondents say dowry offences are a serious issue in India where more than 8,000 women are killed every year.
Paying and accepting dowry is a centuries-old South Asian tradition where the bride's parents gift cash, clothes and jewelry to the groom's family.
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The practice has been illegal in India since 1961, but it continues to thrive and campaigners say it leaves women vulnerable to domestic violence and even death.
'Used as weapon'
To prevent dowry deaths and harassment of brides in their matrimonial homes, India introduced a tough anti-dowry law - Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code - in 1983.
A complaint under the law allows for immediate arrest and jailing of the accused, often the husband and his family members, but campaigners say the provision is frequently misused with many women filing false cases.
"The fact that Section 498A is a cognizable and non-bailable offence has lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives," the two-judge bench of Justices CK Prasad and PC Ghosh said in its order on Wednesday.
"The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his relatives arrested under this provision. In a quite number of cases, bed-ridden grandfathers and grandmothers of the husbands, their sisters living abroad for decades are arrested," it added.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau statistics, nearly 200,000 people, including 47,951 women, were arrested over dowry offences in 2012, but only 15% of the accused were convicted, the court said.
Expressing concern over the misuse of the law, the judges ordered the police "not to automatically arrest" an accused, but to go through a "nine-point checklist" to "satisfy themselves about the necessity for arrest".
And if the police make an arrest, a magistrate must approve further detention of the accused, the court ruled.
Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Prasad said there had been a phenomenal increase in dowry harassment cases in India in the last few years. “The fact that Section 498A is a cognizable and non-bailable offence has lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives,” he said.
“The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his relatives arrested under this provision. In a quite number of cases, bed-ridden grand-fathers and grand-mothers of the husbands, their sisters living abroad for decades are arrested,” he said.
The bench quoted “Crime in India 2012 Statistics” published by?Writing the judgment for the bench, Justice Prasad said there had been a phenomenal increase in dowry harassment cases in India in the last few years. “The fact that Section 498A is a cognizable and non-bailable offence has lent it a dubious place of pride amongst the provisions that are used as weapons rather than shield by disgruntled wives,” he said.
“The simplest way to harass is to get the husband and his relatives arrested under this provision. In a quite number of cases, bed-ridden grand-fathers and grand-mothers of the husbands, their sisters living abroad for decades are arrested,” he said.
The bench quoted “Crime in India 2012 Statistics” published by National Crime Records Bureau to say that nearly 2 lakh people were arrested in India in 2012 under Section 498-A, which was 9.4% more than in 2011.?to say that nearly 2 lakh people were arrested in India in 2012 under Section 498-A, which was 9.4% more than in 2011.
Forced sexual intercourse
Whenever there is discussion regarding forced sexual assault the first thing which comes to mind is women as the victim and men as the assailant and this is where the basic problem lies.?Forced sexual intercourse
Whenever there is discussion regarding forced sexual assault the first thing which comes to mind is women as the victim and men as the assailant and this is where the basic problem lies. Section 375 of IPC which was enacted to help the women to get justice if they are forced into sexual intercourse is also misused by women many times. A man is not given any protection against such forced sexual intercourse. Though the ratio of women is far more than men to suffer such offence, even if one person is being affected,?justice should be done to him by punishing the perpetrator. of IPC which was enacted to help the women to get justice if they are forced into sexual intercourse is also misused by women many times. A man is not given any protection against such forced sexual intercourse. Though the ratio of women is far more than men to suffer such offence, even if one person is being affected,?justice should be done to him by punishing the perpetrator.
According to a?survey?conducted by the Indian Government in 2007, the reported cases of sexual abuse against children, including rape or sodomy varied as-?for boys, it was 57.3% and for girls, it was about 42.7%. The Delhi based Centre for Civil Society?reported?that around 18% of Indian adult men reported that they had been forced for sex. Among those cases, the female perpetrators were 16% and male perpetrators were 2%.
Right to Equality in the Constitution
The?Constitution?under?Article 15(1)?prohibits any discrimination based on sex and under the same,?Article 15(3)?provides that the state can make special provisions for women. Although this special provision was made to protect women as they are seen as being at a disadvantage against men but it is in some situations harming the rights of men. There is no wrong in making such laws except for the scenario where women are using these laws for their advantage in a negative manner and harassing their male counterparts.?
Women empowerment has always been favored by most of the people in our society. In this modern era, women have an upper hand in women-centric laws. From the time when women were disregarded and considered weak to this time when the women are respected and all the women are not that weak,?things have changed in society. But the perspective of the society is still the same that if some cases relating to women-centric laws are filed they themselves declare the men to be perpetrators instead of trying to understand the complete scenario.?
If a girl is raped everyone is concerned about the girl, her future and gives her sympathy. There is no wrong in this. Of course, if people are living together at least they have to do this much. But what about a man who was charged with the offence of rape and is proven innocent. Does society treat him in the same way as they used to do before he was trapped in a false case? The answer is no. Even if they are proved innocent, they are looked down by the people in the society who had already by themselves declared them as the perpetrator who deserves not to live with his head held high. And this situation has worsened with the increase in the use of social media platforms which can easily be used to tarnish someone’s reputation. This is the way society perceives the women-centric laws that the women are always the victim and the men are always the perpetrator without understanding the true cause.?
Judgments:
Dr N.G. Dastane v S Dastane
In this?case, the Supreme Court held that although it is supposed that the one who is stronger commits physical cruelty towards the other i.e. a husband toward his wife. But women, as well as men both, are capable of causing mental cruelty towards their partners.?
Rajesh Sharma & others v State of Bihar?
In this?case, the court laid down certain directions to prevent the misuse of Section 498-A of IPC. The court gave directions to set up a Family Welfare Committee in each district by District Legal Services Authority and to look into the cases of domestic violence reported under Section 498-A of IPC for a month before making any arrest. The Committee would comprise para legal volunteers, social workers, retired persons who should be given basic training for doing the task.
The court also said that the false allegations of rape have the potential to destroy the life and career of the accused.
"Kindly understand that gender equality is a human issue, for men as well."
Intern at law firm
1 年Sir, I am also a Women but still am a victim of those laws, which favours only those females, who are the Complainants but not for those, who are on the side of the Boys/Males or on the side of the Accused. We are also accused for supporting those boys or husbands or males, who are actually not accused in reality.
Trademark (Legal Executive)
1 年Sir I am also working on this issue as a topic for my dissertation.
It's so rare that we dedicate a whole topic to it. It deserves more attention.
I am Concrete Magician Large Concrete Expert LEAN Business Culture
2 年The situation here is similar to, Who will bell the cat ? Though we do have recent precedences which raise the hope of fighting against the abuse of law but I personally find it to be a long and tiring journey for the men to get rid of the vicious entrapment. For long prevalent time in history the men have had an advantage due to the patriarchal system and now legal provisions have given the same upper hand to the women. I hope that in distant future both the sexes will reconcile with maturity to find an amicable solution to this impediment.
Pharmacutical Formulation Tech Transfer and Manufacturing
2 年Law biased hai