Be careful in dowry harassment cases, protect innocents, Supreme Court directs all courts

New Delhi : If you are asked to name 2-4 such laws which are misused the most. In response, the law related to dowry harassment would hardly miss a place in anyone’s list. This law is used as a weapon against the husband’s family and relatives. No matter who commits the crime, every adult member of the family is made an accused. Even getting bail is difficult. From time to time, the courts also express concern about the misuse of the law. The Supreme Court, while acquitting the accused in one such case, has advised the courts to exercise caution in cases related to dowry harassment or dowry deaths. Take care that no innocent person is troubled.Advice to be careful about misuse of law
The Supreme Court has asked courts across the country to exercise caution in dowry harassment cases. Often in these cases, the husband’s relatives are also implicated, while the main accused is the husband. The Supreme Court has expressed concern over this. The Supreme Court said that in many cases of dowry harassment, the allegations are exaggerated. In such a situation, courts should be careful in such cases so that innocent people are not troubled. A bench of Justice CT Ravikumar and Justice Sanjay Kumar said this while acquitting a person in a dowry death case.

Nandoi was also an accused in the dowry death case
The bench said that the accused had married the sister-in-law of the deceased in October 2010. She got married after she was accused of dowry harassment for the first time. he/she cannot be held guilty merely because his/her wife was found guilty. The bench said that general and broad allegations cannot be the basis for prosecution. Courts should exercise caution in dealing with such complaints.

Citing one of its earlier decisions, the top court said, ‘The Court has observed that it is well known that in a large number of complaints the incident is exaggerated. There is also a tendency to implicate in a large number of cases.

The bench said, ‘We are of the view that in such circumstances, the courts have to be careful to identify cases of entrapment of the accused and to avoid humiliation and suffering by such persons.’

The accused got married only 5 months ago
The Supreme Court said that the accused married the sister of the main accused (husband) in October 2010 and the unfortunate incident which led to the death of the woman occurred within five and a half months of his/her becoming a family relative.

The bench said, ‘It is a fact that despite general, vague allegations, no specific allegations were made against the appellant. Further, despite our meticulous investigation, we could not find any specific evidence against the appellant by the prosecution through any of the witnesses. …None of the prosecution witnesses had specifically testified against the appellant stating that he/she had committed any cruelty which could make out a case against him/her for the offense under Section 498-A of the IPC.’

‘If the accused is a relative of a convict, it does not mean that he/she is also guilty’
The bench said, ‘There is no case that any complaint was filed against the appellant before this FIR. In short, we find that there is no evidence against the appellant to hold that he/she has committed the offense under Section 498-A of the IPC. Being the husband of the second accused, who was found guilty of the said offense by the trial courts, cannot be a ground for convicting the appellant under the said offense as there is no specific material on record.

The Supreme Court said in its decision that no one can be held guilty merely because he/she is a relative of the woman found guilty in the case. The court said that in dowry harassment cases, decisions should be taken only on the basis of evidence.