The provisions in the criminal law, which are meant for the protection and empowerment of women, are sometimes being used by certain women more for purposes that they are never meant for, says the Supreme Court (SC) in Rinku Baheti v Sandesh Sharda [2024 INSC 1014].
In some cases, the wife and her family tend to use a criminal complaint with all the serious offences as a platform for negotiation and as a mechanism and a tool to get the husband and his family to comply with their demands, which are mostly monetary in nature.
The women need to be careful about the fact that these strict provisions of law in their hands are beneficial legislations for their welfare and not means to castigate or settle old scores, says the SC.
