New Delhi
In the cases related to domestic violence, the Supreme Court has given a major verdict and adopting the two-year-old guidelines of the Allahabad High Court, saying that the police should not arrest the accused for two months in cases registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. The court said that when a woman filed a case of domestic violence or dowry harassment against her in -laws under 498A, the police should not arrest her husband or her relatives for two months. The court has called the period of two months a peace period.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered this order during the hearing of the case related to a woman IPS officer. The court has also ordered the woman officer to apologize by publishing apologies in newspapers for harassment of husband and her relatives.
Police will not take any punitive action for two months
According to the 2022 guidelines of the Allahabad High Court, the two -month peace period prevents police officers from taking any action, including arrest. According to HC guidelines, cases registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) should be sent to the family welfare committee (FWC) of the concerned district for disposal, and during this time the police will not take any punitive action for the first two months.
A bench of Chief Justice (CJI) Justice BR Gawai and Justice Augustine George Christ directed to implement these guidelines on Tuesday. The apex court said in its order, “The Allahabad High Court on 13 June 2022 in a disputed judgment of Criminal Review number 1126/2022 on 13 June 2022 under Article 32 to 38 will be effective in relation to the formation of family welfare committees to protect against the misuse of ‘Section 498A of the IPC’ and will be effective by applied by appropriate officers.
Supreme Court had earlier canceled
According to the report of the Bar and Bench, these guidelines issued by the Allahabad High Court are based on the decision given in Rajesh Sharma and other vs. Uttar Pradesh State and other cases in 2017. Interestingly, in 2018, in the case of Social Action for Human Rights vs. India Union, the Supreme Court not only revised it but also canceled it. Because of this, FWC became inactive. However, with the decision of yesterday, those guidelines of the Allahabad High Court have now come into force.
Case will be sent to FWC in each district
According to those guidelines, after the FIR or complaint is filed, no arrest of the accused or police action will be taken without the “peace period” (which is two months after the FIR or the complaint is filed). During this “peace period”, the case will be immediately sent to FWC to each district. The guidelines stated that only those cases will be sent to FWC, including Section 498-A of the IPC, as well as other sections of no damage section 307 and other sections of the IPC and including imprisonment is less than 10 years.