TMI Blog2019 (4) TMI 2115X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... 98A was made cognizable and non-bailable. Of considerable significance is the introduction of Section 113A in the Indian Evidence Act by the Criminal Law (second amendment) Act, 1983 providing for presumption as to abetment of suicide by a married woman to be drawn if such suicide had been committed within a period of seven years from the date of marriage of the married woman and she had been subjected to cruelty. Cruelty which is the crux of the offence Under Section 498A Indian Penal Code is defined in Black's Law Dictionary to mean The intentional and malicious infliction of mental or physical suffering on a living creature, esp. a human; abusive treatment; outrage (Abuse, inhuman treatment, indignity) . Cruelty can be both physical or mental cruelty. The impact on the mental health of the wife by overt acts on the part of the husband or his relatives; the mental stress and trauma of being driven away from the matrimonial home and her helplessness to go back to the same home for fear of being ill-treated are aspects that cannot be ignored while understanding the meaning of the expression cruelty appearing in Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code - The Protection of W ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... No. 5139/2014) RANJAN GOGOI, C.J.I., L. NAGESWARA RAO AND SANJAY KISHAN KAUL, JJ. For Appearing Parties: Pramod Swarup, Sr. Adv., Ajay Kumar Srivastava, Vikrant Singh Bais, Ashutosh Dubey, Sandeep Chaudhary, K. Uma Shankar, Shubhi Bhardwaj, Raj Kishor Choudhary, Shakeel Ahmed, Anupam Bhati, Ashok Kumar Srivastava, Raj Sharma, Nidhi Singh Dubey, Sundri, Shalu Sharma, Subhro Sanyal, Revathy Raghavan, S. Muthu Krishnan, K. Sarada Devi, Amarjeet Singh Dheman, Nidhi Dwivedi, Alka Sinha, Malvika Trivedi, Anuvrat Sharma, Praveen Chaturvedi, Jyoti Chaturvedi, Addya Mishra, Abhinav Mukherji, Purnima Krishna, Sunil Kumar Verma, Saju Jakob, Lily Thomas, Abhishek Jaiswal, Gopal Jha, Shreyash Bhardwaj, G.R. Pandey, Shyamal Kumar, Rajesh Kumar Chaurasia, Sunil Kumar, Abha R. Sharma, Dhirendra Singh Parmar, Sujeeta Srivastava, Mahendra Singh, Parmanand Gaur, Ekansh Bansal, Swarupama Chaturvedi, B.N. Dubey, Mukesh Kumar, Jatinder Kumar Bhatia, Ashutosh Kumar Sharma and Ugra Shankar Prasad, Advs. JUDGMENT Ranjan Gogoi, C.J.I. 1. Whether a woman forced to leave her matrimonial home on account of acts and conduct that constitute cruelty can initiate and access the legal pro ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... inuing offence Under Section 178(c) of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In Sunita Kumari Kashyap (Supra), there was an allegation that the wife was ill-treated by her husband who left her at her parental home and further that the husband had not made any enquiries about her thereafter. There was a further allegation that even when the wife had tried to contact the husband, he had not responded. In the said facts, this Court took the view that the consequences of the offence Under Section 498A have occurred at the parental home and, therefore, the court at that place would have jurisdiction to take cognizance of the offence alleged in view of Section 179 of the Code of Criminal Procedure Similarly in State of M.P. v. Suresh Kaushal (Supra) as the miscarriage was caused to the wife at Jabalpur, her parental home, on account of cruelty meted out to her in the matrimonial home, it was held that the court at the place of the parental home of the wife would have jurisdiction to entertain the complaint Under Section 179 Code of Criminal Procedure. 5. The above two views which the learned referring bench had considered while making the present reference, as already noticed, were founded ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... another local area where the offence is partly committed to take cognizance. Also if the offence committed in one local area continues in another local area, the courts in the latter place would be competent to take cognizance of the matter. Under Section 179, if by reason of the consequences emanating from a criminal act an offence is occasioned in another jurisdiction, the court in that jurisdiction would also be competent to take cognizance. Thus, if an offence is committed partly in one place and partly in another; or if the offence is a continuing offence or where the consequences of a criminal act result in an offence being committed at another place, the exception to the ordinary rule would be attracted and the courts within whose jurisdiction the criminal act is committed will cease to have exclusive jurisdiction to try the offence. 9. At this stage it may also be useful to take note of what can be understood to a continuing offence. The issue is no longer res integra having been answered by this Court in State of Bihar v. Deokaran Nenshi (1972) 2 SCC 890. Para 5 may be usefully noticed in this regard. 5. A continuing offence is one which is susceptible of continuan ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... d by the Criminal Law (second amendment) Act, 1983. In addition to the aforesaid amendment in the Indian Penal Code, the provisions of Sections 174 and 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 relating to inquiries by police in case of death by suicides and inquiries by magistrates into cause of such deaths were also amended. Section 198A was also inserted in the Code of Criminal Procedure with regard to prosecution of offences Under Section 498A. Further by an amendment in the first Schedule to the Code of Criminal Procedure the offence Under Section 498A was made cognizable and non-bailable. Of considerable significance is the introduction of Section 113A in the Indian Evidence Act by the Criminal Law (second amendment) Act, 1983 providing for presumption as to abetment of suicide by a married woman to be drawn if such suicide had been committed within a period of seven years from the date of marriage of the married woman and she had been subjected to cruelty. Section 113A is in the following term: 113-A. Presumption as to abetment of suicide by a married woman .- When the question is whether the commission of suicide by a woman had been abetted by her husband or any relat ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X ..... uch acts do not occur at the parental home, there can be no doubt that the mental trauma and the psychological distress cause by the acts of the husband including verbal exchanges, if any, that had compelled the wife to leave the matrimonial home and take shelter with her parents would continue to persist at the parental home. Mental cruelty borne out of physical cruelty or abusive and humiliating verbal exchanges would continue in the parental home even though there may not be any overt act of physical cruelty at such place. 15. The Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, as the object behind its enactment would indicate, is to provide a civil remedy to victims of domestic violence as against the remedy in criminal law which is what is provided Under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. The definition of the Domestic Violence in the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 contemplates harm or injuries that endanger the health, safety, life, limb or well-being, whether mental or physical, as well as emotional abuse. The said definition would certainly, for reasons stated above, have a close connection with Explanation A B to Section 498A, Indian Penal Co ..... X X X X Extracts X X X X X X X X Extracts X X X X
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