{"id":346569,"date":"2025-09-20T12:26:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T06:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?page_id=346569"},"modified":"2025-09-20T12:26:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-20T06:56:06","slug":"answered-the-supreme-courts-steps-to-prevent-the-misuse-of-section-498a-ipc-are-termed-judicial-experimentalism-critically-analyze-whether-such-measures-undermine-a-victims-pursuit-o","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-the-supreme-courts-steps-to-prevent-the-misuse-of-section-498a-ipc-are-termed-judicial-experimentalism-critically-analyze-whether-such-measures-undermine-a-victims-pursuit-o\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] The Supreme Court\u2019s steps to prevent the misuse of Section 498A IPC are termed &#8216;judicial experimentalism&#8217;. Critically analyze whether such measures undermine a victim&#8217;s pursuit of justice."},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Introduction<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Section 498A IPC (now Section 85 BNS), introduced in 1983 to combat cruelty against women, is both a protective shield and a contested provision, raising concerns about misuse, liberty, and judicial experimentalism.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Understanding Section 498A and its Safeguards<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Enacted to address <strong>dowry-related cruelty, harassment, and domestic violence<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Over time, courts flagged its <strong>misuse in false complaints<\/strong> and rampant arrests of husbands\/relatives.<\/li>\n<li>Institutional safeguards evolved:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>2008 CrPC amendment<\/strong>: introduced the <strong>principle of necessity<\/strong> for arrest.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Arnesh Kumar vs State of Bihar (2014)<\/strong>: mandated a checklist, limited automatic arrests, required <strong>notice for appearance<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Satender Kumar Antil (2022)<\/strong>: reinforced bail provisions in cases of wrongful arrest.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These reforms balanced <strong>victim rights<\/strong> with <strong>accused liberty<\/strong>, ensuring the system was not weaponized.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Judicial Experimentalism: Cooling Period and FWCs<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>In Mukesh Bansal vs State of U.P. (2022), the <strong>Allahabad High Court<\/strong> introduced: A <strong>two-month cooling period<\/strong> post-FIR\/complaint and referral to <strong>Family Welfare Committees (FWCs)<\/strong> for mediation.<\/li>\n<li>Endorsed by the Supreme Court in Shivangi Bansal vs Sahib Bansal (2025).<\/li>\n<li>Aims to curb misuse of Section 498A through <strong>quasi-judicial mediation<\/strong> before coercive action.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Critical Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Denial of Prompt Justice<\/strong>: Victims face delays: FIRs lie dormant during the cooling period. Contravenes <strong>Article 21 (Right to Life with Dignity)<\/strong> and <strong>prompt redressal principle<\/strong> recognized in Lalita Kumari vs Govt. of U.P. (2014).<\/li>\n<li><strong>Erosion of Criminal Justice Autonomy<\/strong>: FWCs, with <strong>no statutory backing<\/strong>, encroach on <strong>police and magistrate powers<\/strong>. Undermines the <strong>functional autonomy<\/strong> of law enforcement agencies.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeating Judicial Overreach<\/strong>: Similar experiment in <strong>Rajesh Sharma vs State of U.P. (2017)<\/strong> mandated FWCs, but was overturned in <strong>Social Action Forum for Manav Adhikar (2018)<\/strong> as <strong>regressive and beyond judicial competence<\/strong>. Reviving such ideas risks <strong>legitimizing extra-legal structures<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Statutory and Judicial Safeguards Already Exist<\/strong>: Arrests under Section 498A dropped from <strong>1.87 lakh (2015) to 1.45 lakh (2022)<\/strong> despite rising complaints (NCRB 2022). Indicates safeguards like Arnesh Kumar are effective, making new experiments unnecessary.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Victim\u2019s Vulnerability<\/strong>: Delayed action prolongs exposure to <strong>domestic violence<\/strong> and coercion. Creates <strong>secondary victimization<\/strong>, where legal remedies turn into <strong>procedural hurdles<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Way Forward<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Strengthen <strong>existing safeguards<\/strong> (checklists, arrest guidelines, bail provisions).<\/li>\n<li>Promote <strong>mediation and counselling<\/strong> through <strong>statutory family courts<\/strong>, not ad-hoc committees.<\/li>\n<li>Ensure <strong>speedy FIR registration and investigation<\/strong> in line with Lalita Kumari.<\/li>\n<li>Adopt <strong>victim-centric reforms<\/strong>\u2014legal aid, safe shelters, psychological counselling, and witness protection.<\/li>\n<li>Training for police and judiciary to balance <strong>false complaint risks<\/strong> with <strong>genuine victim protection<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Unchecked judicial activism risks <strong>\u201cjustice without law\u201d<\/strong>. Sustainable reforms must respect statutory frameworks, ensuring safeguards against misuse while prioritizing women\u2019s prompt access to justice and constitutional dignity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Section 498A IPC (now Section 85 BNS), introduced in 1983 to combat cruelty against women, is both a protective shield and a contested provision, raising concerns about misuse, liberty, and judicial experimentalism. Understanding Section 498A and its Safeguards Enacted to address dowry-related cruelty, harassment, and domestic violence. Over time, courts flagged its misuse in&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-the-supreme-courts-steps-to-prevent-the-misuse-of-section-498a-ipc-are-termed-judicial-experimentalism-critically-analyze-whether-such-measures-undermine-a-victims-pursuit-o\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">[Answered] The Supreme Court\u2019s steps to prevent the misuse of Section 498A IPC are termed &#8216;judicial experimentalism&#8217;. Critically analyze whether such measures undermine a victim&#8217;s pursuit of justice.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-346569","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/346569\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}