Venkatesh Kumar Singh
We human beings live in a society and human nature makes this society very complex as the human intention cannot be considered to be the appropriate one, for all the others who exist in the society. The political philosopher Hobbes believed that when two or more people want the same thing, they become enemies and attempt to destroy each other. The best for one could be completely wrong for the other. The limited resources have proved to be challenging for the fulfillment of the human tendency of being always in need of more. Hence, conflict becomes natural among the individuals living in the society. To avoid this situation, laws are introduced in order to function the society smoothly.
The fundamental purpose of the law is to protect the life, liberty, and property of the individual from unreasonable intrusion by a person, organization, and government. But it has been observed that the same law is misused to legally bully the individual to harass and control them. The Court and legal process are there to help us to solve the complex problems of our society. However, sometimes people use the law to threaten others and with the intention to stop them from moving on with their life. There are many cases in which it is seen that law is abused to be unfair against the individual and for the improper legal action initiated with selfish or malicious intentions like SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities act, 1989, section 306, 354, 375and 498-A of IPC were misused largely.
The purpose of the SC/ST Prevention of atrocities acts enacted is to prohibit discrimination, prevent atrocities and hate crimes against SC/ST. But, it is observed that the act is also misused by the research scholars and subordinate officials against their supervisors and senior officials to threaten them when they demand quality work. Here, the purpose of this act is to protect the vulnerable sections of society but sometimes used as a weapon against the superiors when they demand better performance. The abuse of this act can be seen in Vishnu Tiwari Vs The State of Utter Pradesh case in which he was sentenced to prison in 2001 after being found guilty of rape and breaching the SC/ST act in 2003. However, after around seventeen years when the case came before the Allahabad High Court bench, they found the charges against him to be baseless and acquitted him.
The intention of section 498-A of IPC introduced in 1983 is to safeguard the rights and empowerment of women and to protect women who are being abused by their husbands or husbands' relatives. But it cannot be ignored that this section is used by women for making false allegations against their husbands with the goal of getting some money, getting out of wedlock, and to fulfill their demand or just defaming the family of the husband. The Supreme Court was given a landmark judgement by framing the guideline and stated that the legal procedure must be followed in the Arnesh Kumar Vs State of Bihar (2014) case to protect the human rights of innocent people who were booked under this section. The decision is appreciated among the men’s right activist but faced criticism from feminists because it weakened the negotiating power of women.
The intention of section 354 of IPC is to provide protection to women against the outrage of their modesty by the men and section 375 of IPC is to provide protection to women by deterring a man to commit rape. The purpose of the act is to provide protection to women from sexual abuse. However, women use this act as a weapon against men for blackmailing them for marriage, to get some financial gain, and to take revenge because the statement of the victim is enough to secure a conviction. The misuse of gender as a weapon by women is a serious concern for the men living in our society.
The section 306 of IPC (Abetment of Suicide) is also one of the laws which is made to protect the life of individuals and it deters the individual to instigate anyone for the commitment of suicide. But it is seen in many cases that the individuals and officials were booked under this section largely for harassment and to take revenge. The Hon’ble Supreme court in the case of M. Mohan Vs The State acquitted a person whose wife has committed suicide and left a suicide note, alleging that she is being deprived to use the family car of the in-laws. The Supreme Court observed that this kind of incident is common in joint families and no abetment under section 107 of IPC was made out and the accused were not even remotely connected with the offence under section 306 of IPC. But for getting relief he has to approach the Supreme Court which is itself a time-consuming procedure. It has been often observed that couples decide to commit suicide when the relationship breaks by leaving the suicide notes and their partner who survived were booked under this section by the family members merely for harassment purposes.
Consequences: The major consequence of legal abuse is a miscarriage of justice. It occurs when a grossly unfair outcome is made in a criminal and civil proceeding as mentioned in the above-cited cases. It harms the individuals in many other ways like the criminal defense of the innocent, imposes psychological stress which also affects physical health and it also puts a heavy burden on the poor person who was unable to afford the cost of legal defense. This is also a kind of injustice meted to a person who was unnecessarily dragged out in a case by misusing the law which is introduced to protect the rights of individuals.
The Way Forward: Now, the question is what to do? Do we need to repeal the law? The answer is no, of course not. There are various other ways to overcome the problem of legal abuse. First, the Spirit of law must be seen instead of obeying the letter of law. Second, Judges should apply the principle of equity and judgement must be given on general principles of fairness, common sense, and natural justice. Third, the officers need to investigate the matter carefully and apply common sense in handling the above-said sections. Fourth, Lawyers should take their legal profession seriously and must obey professional codes for fair dealing with the client. Fifth, fair chances should be given to the accused to prove his innocence. Sixth, there is a need to populate society with good lawyers by providing quality legal education. Seventh, the media should take the relevant legal issues and judgements and make the people aware of the legal issue which is quite commonly faced by the society. Eight, creating legal awareness is necessary among the people and DLSA can play an active role in this regard. And, at last, the police officers should avoid jumping to the conclusion rather they should investigate the cases carefully before filing the charge-sheet. As said earlier, the main purpose of the law is to protect the individual and it must not be used for bullying an individual or group under legal code. Is the purpose of the law is served for which it is introduced? Well, it is the subject to reflect upon.
The writer is an independent researcher from Port Blair, A & N Islands. He can be reached by mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.