DRACONIAN 498A IPC

Here are some statistics why 498a is called a draconian law-

“It is a law by misusing which 20% population can destroy the whole country”

Year	Cases	Arrests	Conviction (at lower court)	Suicides by husband
2009	89546	174395	19.9%	58192
2010	94041	180413	20.6%	61453
2011	99135	180701	20.6%	64323
2012	106527	197762	14.4%	65979
2013	118866	222091	15.6%	68756

Source: NCRB data 2013

This was about fresh cases; now let us analyze it with pendency of cases which is huge.

Cases Filed under 498A and disposed of by Courts
Year	Total Cases pending trail up to that year	Convicted	Acquitted	Withdrawn	Total cases remaining at the end of year	Conviction Rate of Cases under 498A	Average Conviction Rate of all IPC crimes
2007	267600	6831	25791	6364	228614	21.2%	42.30%
2008	293416	7710	26637	7310	251759	22.7%	42.60%
2009	323355	7380	29943	7111	278921	19.9%	41.70%
2010	357343	7764	32987	6601	309991	19.6%	40.70%
2011	387690	8167	32171	7477	339902	20.6%	41.10%
2012	426922	6916	39138	8775	372706	14.4%	38.50%
2013	466079	7258	38165	8218	412438	15.6%	40.20%

Source: https://factly.in/conviction-rate-for-cases-registered-under-sec-498a-ipc-is-among-the-lowest-for-all-ipc-crimes/#prettyPhoto

Cases Filed under 498A and disposed of by Courts
Year	Total Cases pending trail up to that year	Convicted	Acquitted	Withdrawn	Total cases remaining at the end of year	Conviction Rate of Cases under 498A	Average Conviction Rate of all IPC crimes	Increase in pendency%		X=Pending-Opening of the year
2007	267600	6831	25791	6364	228614	21.20%	42.30%	9.647235		-6354.35
2008	293416	7710	26637	7310	251759	22.70%	42.60%	10.2036		-7299.8
2009	323355	7380	29943	7111	278921	19.90%	41.70%	10.51105		-7100.49
2010	357343	7764	32987	6601	309991	19.60%	40.70%	8.492401		-6592.51
2011	387690	8167	32171	7477	339902	20.60%	41.10%	10.11943		-7466.88
2012	426922	6916	39138	8775	372706	14.40%	38.50%	9.171933		-8765.83
2013	466079	7258	38165	8218	412438	15.60%	40.20%			-8218
Total		52026	224832	51856

Ø  

I added two more columns at last and summed up figures of three columns below to them.

Ø  We are increasing the pendency at the rate of around 10%.

Ø  “X” in negative shows we are adding more number of cases every year then we are able to dispose (convict, acquit or withdraw).

Ø  Conviction from 2009 to till 2013 is mere 52K where acquittal is 2.2L and cases withdrawn are 51K.

Ø  Conviction is going down rapidly whereas average conviction rate of all crimes is somehow stagnant.

Till 52026 got convicted till 2013 from 2007 we had already 418569 added to the group. And remember the conviction is at lower court till it reaches the higher courts and conviction goes as below as 1%. According to NCRB data our courts disposal is 11.5% for these cases means rest linger on in courts for minimum 9 years.

Ø  According to NCRB 1.9 person per case is arrested in 498a in 2013. This is arrested person data whereas number of person accused in each case must be on an average 5. This means for those “N” number of false cases 2N people arrested and approx 5N people are forced to face trial for minimum 5 years. This is shocking somewhere means 20% of population of our country can destroy the whole country with misusing this law. It also means for those N cases our country went behind 9 years in the race of development and growth because mostly accused are young man.

Ø  And look at the other scenario of suicides; till 2013 from 2009 total 318703 of husband has suicide from 2009 that could not bear the burden of false case and harassment due to it.

(Views are personal)