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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Misuse of Sec. 498A of IPC - Advisory issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India - Kerala police circular



                                                                                   U1/18390/12/PHQ
 Police Headquarters, Kerala 
Thiruvananthapuram-695 010
                                                                                       Dated: 02/10/2012 
CIRCULAR No: 28/2012

Sub:  Misuse of Sec. 498A of IPC - Advisory issued by Ministry of Home 
Affairs, Govt. of India - Instructions issued - Reg. 
Read:  Lr. No. 3/5/2008 – Judl. Cell dated 16/01/2012 of the MHA,  
Govt. of India. 

The Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, vide the reference read 
above, have issued an Advisory on measures to be taken to curb the misuse of  
Sec. 498A of IPC.  
Sec. 498A of IPC relates to the punishment for any cruelty inflicted on married 
women by the husband and relatives. But in many instances of marital discord, 
provisions of Sec. 498A of IPC are seen misused. In the light of the above Advisory 
of Government of India, the following instructions are issued.  

(1) The powers of the arrest on complaints relating to  offence under  
Sec. 498A of IPC are to be exercised carefully and cautiously, since it is laid down 
that the power of arrest without a warrant should be exercised only after a reasonable 
satisfaction is reached, after some investigation, as to the genuineness and bonafides 
of a complaint and a reasonable belief as to both the person’s complicity as well as 
the need to effect arrest. In matrimonial disputes, it may not be necessary in all cases 
to immediately exercise the powers of arrest. Recourse may be initially taken to 
dispute settlement mechanism such as conciliation,  mediation, counselling of the 
parties etc. In view of the above, arrest of the accused in Sec. 498A of IPC cases shall 
be done only with proper care and caution. Arrest under Sec. 498A of IPC on the 
basis of a complaint should be done only with written order of the Police officer of 
the level of District Police Chief or equivalent and it should be ensured that there is 
sufficient material for arresting the accused and charge sheeting the case.  
In short, arrest should be an exception, only in very deserving cases, and not done as 
a regular/routine exercise.  
  (2) The service of professionally trained family counselors shall be utilized 
for conciliation and mediation between the spouses  and their families so that 
frivolous cases are screened at the initial stage itself and Sec. 498A of IPC is invoked 
in rare cases.  
(3) The process of counselling by the Police Department should be made 
professional by involving qualified counselors and  reputed NGO’s so that people 
have more confidence in the mechanism and arrive at some settlement without the 
use of Sec. 498A of IPC. Even after the process of counseling, if the District Police 
Chief is not satisfied with the result, provision of Sec. 498A of IPC may be invoked. 
The District Police Chief may consider empanelling professional counselors with the 
Women cell working at district level. 
(4) In case of juveniles, Sec. 498A of IPC should not be invoked.  
However, in case of any aberrations, the Police must ensure that the children are put 
under the care of Child Welfare Committee. 
All District Police Chief’s should furnish a quarterly statement to PHQ 
mentioning the number of complaints under Sec. 498A of IPC and the arrest made 
there under. 
All are instructed to ensure that the above directions are carried out in dealing 
the offence under Sec. 498A of IPC.  
                                                                                           Sd/- 
Director General of Police &  
State Police Chief, Kerala 
To 
All Officers in List 'B' 
Copy to: Circular Book/Stock File 
   

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