NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has set aside the conviction of a man and his brother in a domestic cruelty case, describing it as a “classic example of misuse” of Section 498A of the IPC.
Mukhtiar Singh and his brother were convicted in 2023 by a magisterial court and sentenced to one year in jail with a fine of ₹50,000. But on August 29, additional sessions judge Shivali Bansal allowed their appeal, citing contradictions in the wife’s allegations, unexplained delays in filing complaints, and questionable conduct.
The complainant alleged ill-treatment since her marriage in November 2003, yet lodged her first police complaint two years later. The court also flagged her reconciliatory attempts despite claiming her husband was “not a fit person to live with,” noting that her actions were inconsistent with her allegations.
Judge Bansal observed that while women in Indian society often endured abuse to preserve marriages, such assumptions could not be generalized—particularly in cases involving educated, independent women.
The court also noted that complaints filed in 2007 and 2008 appeared retaliatory, after the marriage had irretrievably broken down. Allegations were largely supported by close relatives, whose testimony required stricter scrutiny.
On one charge—that Singh threatened to throw their six-day-old baby from a balcony—the court said the mother’s failure to report the alleged act at the time undermined her credibility: “No mother would risk her child’s safety for the sake of marriage.”
The order comes against a backdrop of strikingly low conviction rates under Section 498A in Delhi. According to RTI data, since 2021 only 0.2% of such cases have led to convictions, with nearly 47% quashed by the Delhi High Court and hundreds ending in acquittals.
Advocate Pravesh Dabas appeared for the appellants.
