Legislations are made to safeguard the interests of certain sections of society. And in tune with that, the Dowry Protection Act was amended in 1983 to give birth to IPC 498a. The idea was to add more teeth to the Act to protect women from physical and psychological violence after marriage. But, of late, a part of society, including a chunk of the legal fraternity, feels that the Act is being misused.
As per the provision under IPC 498a, the police can arrest any person, be it the husband, in-laws or distant relatives, whoever is mentioned in the complaint filed by the married woman, without a warrant. The Act prescribes non-bail-able warrant — it is non-compoundable and treated as a cognisable offence.
