A family is a basic institution of society. It is bridged either by blood or a marriage or through adoption. It has an immense influence from the time of birth to the death of an individual. A marriage is a foundation between a man and a woman and a principle tool which leads to the enlargement of a family. Though even in the modern society today, this very holy foundation of marriage aches from a crucial communal evil that is dowry. The current position of females in a civilization, depicts the very extent of the ‘stage of evolution’, to where a civilization has transpired. The cruelty or oppression against women from the Vedic times to the modern era has always questioned the position of women in our society. Hence, the enforcement of Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 acted significant in combating cruelty against females and in curbing out the social evils and bring about a social reform. The primary need of the law was to hinder dowry related violence. Section 498A and section 304B which deals with dowry death compliments each other. Huge proportion of women have exploited immense powers given in application of Section 498A to abuse spouses and his family and get an unfair advantage. Ultimately, motive of the section, that is to protect females in true cases of cruelty, is under threat due to the misuse done by women these days. However, with the recent passage of time there has been major landmark judgments that has created helpful guidelines passed by the Hon’ble Courts which has led to the creation of certain remedies to counter the misuse of Section 498A. Also, there are provisions in certain legislative Acts which can be used as remedies to fight against the false allegations. When justice is delayed then justice is not served and when wives falsely accuse their spouse of 498A IPC, there is no way for the husband to get justice quickly. Therefore, the lawmakers must come up with a mechanism to ensure that the provision is neutral so that justice is served on the both sides.

A dowry is any form of materialistic good or a monetary gain that the man collects from the wife’s family during commencement of the marriage. It is typically seen that during dowry, the husband exerts mental and sometimes physical pressure on the wife and her family. The wives are usually abused, maltreated and sometimes even divorced or murdered for the simple reason of them not being able to comply or fulfill the demands. Due to disgrace affiliated with the reporting of cases and with the mindset of what the rest of the society thinks, the actual number of cases reported against social evils like dowry paints a very inaccurate canvas. Only when the victim commits suicide, suffers death or pursues medical care for the injuries caused by such subjects, the matter of dowry reaches police station & the judiciary. Misuse of smaller gravity often buried unreported. There have been no statute in the Indian judiciary addressing such domestic abuse preceding 1983. Hence, for guarding safety & protecting brutality that women encounter inside their home, the section was introduced in the code which protects a women against cruelty throughout a marriage.

A massive proportion of women have exploited immense powers given application of Section 498A to abuse spouses & his family & get an unfairly advantage. Section 498A is used by women who want to take revenge on their husbands to intimidate and pressurize their relatives.

The Apex Court, acknowledged growing tradition of men getting accused untruly under this section, naming it a phenomenon & a communal disease. As it is observed in Sushil Kumar Sharma vs. Union Of India And Ors (1997) 5 SCC 536, "Legal Terrorism"[3] explains the misuse of the said section. Also, innocent family members such as the elders, are often wrongfully prosecuted and suffer immense harassment through justice system. The ultimate motive of the section is to protect females in true cases of cruelty, is under threat due to false allegations these days. The crime U/S 498A is both cognizable and non-cognizable & in present day females are quite aware of how powerful the section stands.

With a single complaint, females can send their spouse and spouse’s family to jail. Defending a charge against the clause may be difficult, as complainant's word holds more power & the story in her complaint is harder to counter. After a report, wives may force their husband to complete a divorce, increase alimony or even outright blackmail. This is a regular method of abuse relating to the section, which actually intends to serve justice in actual case of cruelty. Increasingly, wives make fake accusations towards their husband in order to humiliate the entire family, or instead eliminate them from her life. This trend is contrary to the spirit of the said regulation. Abuse is very common in this provision & most educated wives are completely aware that the section is non-bailable & cognizable, as that the police have to act quickly on a report and arrest their spouse.

Let us look at some remedies or precautions that a husband, his family and relatives can take in case of a false case under the section 498A of IPC. Listed below there are, multiple remedies that might help a person falsely accused of the said section:

In matrimonial disputes, between two individuals, the first and foremost action a wife could legally take is to file a F.I.R under Section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code. The initiative is foreseen under Section 498 A of the Penal Code. Nowadays it is seen that the inside contents of the FIR are so indistinguishable and similar which clearly shows the very abuse of the Section. Courts also accept that, innocent persons are falsely accused under 498 A. But also, there are real cases where wives have been brutalized by their husbands or relatives.

Due of such faulty accusations, most of the courts have began to provide judgement in favor of the man and his family. Amongst these judgments, the Supreme Court made an important decision on the case of Arnesh Kumar V. State of Bihar (2014) 8 SCC 273[6]. In this judgement, the court mentioned, if we desire to arrange a complaint under Section 125, we must first file a complaint under Section 41A. Also, a man and his family can only be arrested if the victim's injury is severe and serious. Many things have changed since the Supreme Court decision. Recently, the Supreme Court of Uttar Pradesh has also passed an important judgment which goes a step ahead by giving directions to Section 498 A.

Now, we would discuss thoroughly on the Judgment of U.P. High Court in the case of Mukesh Bansal V. State of U.P. and Another (2022), Crl.R. 1187, (2022) Crl.R. 1122

The women filed a complaint under Section 498 A against the husband and mother-in-law. After an investigation, her husband's family was charged. The husband's family contested the charges in the Allahabad High Court. The court considers the accusations absurd. Male members of the husband's family were sexually accused. Nowadays, it is very common for such charges to be filed under section 498 A. The court takes up the case against the mother-in-law and the father-in-law and acquits them. But the husband was charged under 498 A, there the court did not interfere in the prosecution phase. And rejects the petition that was against the husband. Even though, the husband's appeal failed, his mother and father were relieved and made cleared of liability. Now even the Hon'ble Courts have agreed that 498 A is being misused and abused by giving false accusations to the husband's family. Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code is invoked when an F.I.R. from the women's side is filed. The section deals with ill-treatment or criminal violence against a woman intended to anger her modesty. Mother-in-law as well as brother-in-law are usually blamed for such accusations. Sometimes they are accused of rape. There are also real cases where cases of false claims far outnumber the real cases. The court fails to believe, the majority of men in our society have such immoral values.

After concluding this case, the Hon'ble Court had decided to lay down some major guidelines in order to prevent the abuse of the said Section. Thus, we can understand the aforementioned instructions:

The Allahabad High Court had issued above guidelines to safeguard misuse of section 498 A. These directions have come when the court realized that, numerous wives make falsified allegations and claims against their husband and husbands families. These sort of claims have recurring patterns and storyline that have led the courts to question the credibility of such claims. With these directions, there still leaves a hope in our modern society to end women and family abuse.

Marriage is an elective union of life between one man and a woman to the debarment of all others. It is a holy bond made by the individuals towards each other. It is considered to be a union of their respective families in the society. Though even in the modern society today, we see that this very holy foundation of marriage aches from a crucial communal evil that is dowry. Marriage is no longer seen as holy union of two individuals, rather over the time it turned into more alike a civil commitment in-between two people in the literal sense of the word, where one obliges the other to fulfill marital rights. Section 498A, which otherwise gained notoriety as "legal terrorism", was inserted mainly to fight against dowry and dowry related death. Through experience of prominent law persons & well-known lawyers, and various reports, we can formulate a solution to curb this communal cancer. However, the addition of Section 498A of the IPC,1860, seemed a honest solution and quite efficient in those naive stages of its promulgation, a brand new age of barbarity has dawned in the recent years.

Even though the Judiciary has not curbed the blatant abuse of Section 498A, this provision itself demands immediate compensation for the suffering of insincerely accused sufferers of dowry harassment. Protection shall be broadened to the husbands of the society. The misuse of the Section shows that this strict provision has affected innumerable innocent individuals and their immediate families as this provision gives protection solely to women, making this provision bigoted, unfair and illegitimate. During the last twenty years, Section 498A of the IPC, 1860, had being badly abused, pulling innocent men to police stations, jails and even courts, stripping families of happiness. Wives who actually want protection from domestic violence, in actuality do not use it. This provision is a tool, which can be used as a dangerous weapon by women who abuse it in the smallest way possible.

We may hence conclude that although Section 498A of Indian Penal Code 1860, had been made to prevent married women against abuse by their husbands and his relatives but now it is being widely misused. The wives overturn the law by taking advantage and behaving cruelly to their husbands and his relatives and prosecuting them under Section 498A of the IPC ,1860. Hence, legal steps should be practiced to curb the menace spreading through misuse of this law.