The Jharkhand High Court recently held that failing to provide adequate medical assistance to a spouse so as to pressurize her for dowry would come within the scope of cruelty mentioned in Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Single-judge Justice Ambuj Nath upheld the conviction of the accused-husband one Sanjay Kumar Rai finding him guilty of committing cruelty against his wife Neelam Devi who was suffering from cancer.
The Court observed, “Non-providing of proper medical aid to one’s wife to enforce the demand of dowry will come within the definition of cruelty as enunciated under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. Both the trial court as well as the appellate court have rightly come to the finding regarding the guilt of the petitioner Sanjay Kumar Rai @ Sanjay Kumar Roy under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code for subjecting his wife Neelam Devi to cruelty to enforce the demand of dowry.”
The Court made the above observations while hearing three revision pleas. In which, one plea was filed by the husband Sanjay Kumar Rai challenging his conviction under Section 498A of the IPC.
While the second plea was filed by the informant, wife Neelam Devi who was later substituted by her father Ram Kripal Singh, after her death. In that plea, she had challenged the order of acquittal which was passed by the magistrate court in December 2010 in favor of opposite parties that is her in-laws, namely Sulochana Devi, Manju Devi and Anju Devi.
The third plea was filed by the father of the informant challenging the acquittal of the brother-in-law (Bhageshwar Roy) of the victim.
The prosecution’s case was initiated based on a written report filed by Neelam Devi. She made allegations that she had married Sanjay Kumar Rai in June 2006 and her in-laws used to torture her during her husband’s absence.
Further, she alleged that when she reported the matter to her husband, he demanded a car and moreover, she was driven away from her matrimonial home. Subsequently, they also visited her house and forcefully took her signature on a blank paper.
She categorically stated that, she was tortured on account of dowry demand and her husband refused to provide her financial assistance for her cancer treatment on the ground that she had not brought sufficient dowry for her treatment.
Examining the evidence statements, oral testimonies from the witnesses and the related facts, the Court determined that the husband had failed to provide medical assistance to the victim.
Subsequently, the High Court found that both the trial court and the appellate court correctly found him guilty under Section 498A of the IPC for subjecting his wife to cruelty.
As regards the relatives of the husband, the Court noted that the victim had made broad and vague statements related to the mistreatment by the opposite party that is, her husband, in-laws and brother-in-law and that she had not suffered any injuries caused by them as per the allegations.
The prosecution did not provide any compelling evidence supporting when and how the complaint had been subjected to torture. Therefore, the High Court upheld the acquittal of the wife’s in-laws.
Advocates Sanjay Kumar and Atanu Banerjee appeared for the petitioners. While, Advocates Arup Kr Dey, Fahad Allam and Ravi Prakash represented respondents.
News Source: https://www.barandbench.com/news/depriving-cancer-treatment-wife-not-dowry-cruelty-jharkhand-high-court
