CHAPTER II
Please understand this; 498A is a criminal case. This is
very different from a civil case such as divorce. In a 498A case, though you
are entitled to due process, your rights are tossed aside and you are presumed
to be guilty until proven innocent. You will be treated on par with criminals.
I am not joking about this. In reality, there doesn’t appear to be a set
process the police follow when a 498A is filed. How the police treat you is
dependent upon your social standing and the perception the police have of you.
This is the unvarnished truth. In some cases, the police appear and summon
people for counseling. If the counseling fails, the next round leads to arrest.
There is absolutely no investigation done by the police to verify the
accusations. In some cases, there is a lag between the counseling session and
the arrest. In other cases, the arrest is made first. A young man was pulled
out of a class and was arrested and held in remand for several weeks. What kind
of a process was followed here? In the event that you are called in for
counseling and are asked to return to the police station in a few days or
weeks, you may want to file for anticipatory bail immediately. You can file for
anticipatory bail after the FIR is filed, but before you are arrested. Once you
are arrested, you are the mercy of the magistrate. If you get anticipatory
bail, the game is over for the cops and the in laws.
The next section describes the common scenario where the
police approach you in the name of counseling, which is invariably a demand to
settle the issue monetarily, failing which this leads to arrest when you are
unable to obtain bail. Your First Meeting With The Police: In most cases, the police will arrive at your
door in the early hours of the morning while all of you are half asleep, and
will attempt to take you, and members of your family to the police station.
Friday mornings or the day before public/court holidays are another favorite
time the police choose to get you. They do this, as they can prevent you from
being presented before a magistrate, depriving you of a chance to apply for
bail on the same day. This will allow them to hold you in custody over the
weekend and really tighten the screws. Be assured, the police have been bribed
to their gills and this is the norm, rather than the exception. The police
personnel who show up at the door will give you their word and tell you that
they will lay down their life to protect you and that you must accompany them.
Believe them at your peril. They will say they need to arrest you if you don’t
accompany them. They will do whatever it takes to get you to the police
station. Depending upon your social standing, the police may also resort to
coercive tactics, which means you may very well be beaten up. Be calm when
dealing with the police. Do not show any fear or confusion. They are the Indian
Police and not the Gestapo or the KGB. They have no right to hurt you or
assault you in anyway. You are protected by the constitution. At that time and
place, this may sound unrealistic. Trust me, you are protected and the police
know it. All the same, they will intimidate and threaten you. If they assault
you, make sure that you record the proof of it on a cell phone camera, at the
least. The police can be nailed for abusing their power. Do your best to
maintain the upper hand. Don’t think in terms of human rights. They mean
nothing. You need to think and speak in terms of Fundamental Rights. Your
Fundamental Rights are guaranteed. It takes confidence, courage, and quick
wittedness to confound the police. You can do it. The policemen who show up at your door will
be underlings. Wait till you meet the Police Inspector (SHO). The main drama
will take place in the Station House. I
am checking up on the code of criminal procedures that need to be followed for
cognizable offenses like 498A. I will post them when I have more information.
Initially, the police will say that they want to take you in for counseling to
the police station. If you get to the police station, you will possibly find your
spouse and her relatives there. Invariably, the demands will be along the lines
of reconciliation or they will ask you to pay up a sum of money to settle the
issue. The police will attempt to mediate a settlement. If this fails, you will
be taken into custody along with most or all the members of your family who
have been accused. If all your efforts to stand off an arrest fail, then you
will need to go to the police station. It may be in the city or in the
districts. Regardless, the arrestee has
rights that the police must respect. The Supreme Court has issued a set of
directives (Shri Dilip K. Basu Etc.Ashok K. Johari Vs. State Of West Bengal
& Ors Date Of Judgment: 01/08/1997) that need to be Copyright:
ipc498A.wordpress.com 1/9 11/9/07 followed and obeyed by the arresting officer,
failing which the arresting officer can be held accountable through
departmental action and contempt of court. Preparing For Arrest Or
Detention:
• Take some snacks and water with you.
• Take your cell phone and its charger. Make sure you have
the number of your lawyer stored. If it is a prepaid phone, ensure that it is
charged to the max extent. Pay off the cops to do these minor things.
• Mosquito repellent. The police station will be infested
with them ☺.
• Keep some cash with you, but don’t take any valuables like
jewellery. Don’t have anything flashy on you.
• If any member of your family is on medication, ensure that
you take these along.
• Pack a set of clothes handy to be delivered fast if
needed. Pack for 5 days if approached on a Friday.
• Take a book. The Bhagavad-Gita, Bible or the Koran, or
anything else of interest to keep you engaged.
You will grow close to your god in these trying times.
• Take a notepad and pen to list your feelings with
timelines. It will come in useful if you need to recollect the facts in a
courtroom or several years down the line when you get to nail her under Section
182 of IPC.
• Inform a trusted friend.
• Get the name of the police inspector and his contact info
such as cell, phone # in the station.
• Get the police station address and phone numbers that you
are being taken to. It is your right to know.
• Get the names of the SP, ASP and any other superior
officer and their contact info.
• Try to get a copy of the FIR. You have the right to know
what you are being charged with.
• Keep a copy of this document with you. It will be a useful
reference, especially with regard to your rights. It is in your interest to
ensure that you do not accompany the police to the station, at least, not
without being escorted by your lawyer.
Dealing With The Shock: The first thing you need to deal with is the
shock you will experience when the police show up at your door. Sheer terror
and disbelief is what you will feel. This is accompanied by a sense of
betrayal. The woman, with whom you’ve shared your most intimate moments, the
mother of your children (if kids are involved), has filed false criminal
charges against you and members of your family. The shock is followed by panic
and a sense of helplessness. You will feel rage when your parents/siblings are
arrested. There will be a scramble to call relations and friends and find a
lawyer to arrange for bail. There will be an absolute sense of bewilderment.
There may also be temptation to run out of the back door. That’s fine. Hold on.
Don’t give in to panic. Think. When the police arrive at your doorstep,
there will be a tendency to look to them for help, information or reassurance.
Don’t look to the police for this. They are not there to comfort or reassure
you. Try to remain calm. Delay. Sit in the potty to compose yourself. Call your
neighbors as witnesses. Don’t worry about your prestige; you will gain greater
respect if you are able to avoid getting caught up in this extortion racket.
There has been an instance when the neighbors convinced the police leave
without an arrest. Video record the situation to the extent possible. Use a
cell phone or a digital camera. Try to record as much as the conversation with
the police as possible. Keep your wits about you. Be fearless. Stick to your
ground and resist accompanying the police to the station on a Friday. Use the
judgments of the Supreme Court. Do your best to ensure that you go to the
station on a Monday and accompanied by your lawyers. Do not go there alone. Try
to fight on your turf, which is your home and neighborhood. Don’t surrender
this advantage easily. How they deal with you will depend upon your social and
economic status. Procedures and policies get thrown to the wind in the frenzy to
get you to the station. If their intimidation gets out of hand, gently tell
them that you are a citizen and that you have rights and any excesses on their
side will be reported to the Home Secretary of the state or the DGP. The Home
Secretary is an IAS officer and their ultimate boss, above the DGP. Once they
understand that you will stand and fight, they may treat you with respect and
with a little luck, you may avoid arrest. If for any reason, you are unable to
dissuade the police from forcing you to accompany them, then accompany them
with the copies of the Supreme Court judgments. You may be able to nail them on
charges of contempt of court later. Tell
them that it is no idle threat. The police are under intense pressure to get
you and as many members of your family to the station as they can get their
hands on. They’ve been paid to do so and there is Copyright:
ipc498A.wordpress.com 2/9 11/9/07 more money to be made from arresting all of
you. Try your best to keep members of your family out of it. They will use your
family as a pawn in this game. Do your best to protect the women and children.
They have arrested over 300 children in 498A cases. Breast-feeding mothers,
children, grandparents have been arrested. The statistics from the Home
Ministry speak for themselves. If are you compelled to accompany them, do so,
but, first, activate plan B. Get your lawyer to prepare to file a bail
applications in the lower courts and the High Courts.
The FIR: In most cases, the FIRs are shoddy pieces of afterthought
or well-crafted documents that can never withstand an impartial and thorough
scrutiny. They are crafted by either a lawyer or by the police. Here is what
the Allahabad HC (Allahabad HC, Writ Petition MB 528 of 2005, 10/01/2006) had
to say: “At the very outset, it may be
observed that the eleven long pages First Information Report which had resulted
in launch of criminal proceedings against the petitioners is so well-worded and
neatly woven that it does not leave any room for doubt that it is a well-deliberated
draft by a legal expert.”
Jurisdiction: On some
cases, the complainant alleges that the harassment took place in on place and
files the complaint in another district/city or state. They get away with this,
as there is no enforcement of penalties for perjury, nor is there sufficient
oversight. I was also led to believe that a woman could file a case in any part
of India against you. If she does that, the harassment factor goes up by 10
times. Imagine running around the courts and police stations in an unfamiliar
place. Imagine the intimidation you can be subjected to if you need to fight on
a turf of her choosing. Think about the expenses involved in travel and lodging
and having to lug your lawyers around with you.
Fortunately, if this happens, this becomes the grounds for a quash
petition. Please read the document on “Understanding Issues Of Jurisdiction”.
There is a judgment by the Supreme Court (CASE NO: Appeal (crl.) 904 of 2004.
Y. Abraham Ajith & Ors vs Inspector of Police, Chennai &Anr. 17/08/2004),
which may help in your situation as it deals with issues of jurisdiction. Here is a link (http://tinyurl.com/yo2bh7) to
the judgment and a bail order explaining this. Please read the contents of this
link http://tinyurl.com/2mbsxz to clearly understand issues of jurisdiction.
And yes, a woman can file a complaint anywhere, but the case needs to be
transferred and tried in the jurisdiction of the court where the alleged
offence took place. Finally, read this judgment from the Allhabad/Lucknw High Court
to understand how it all ties together (http://tinyurl.com/2obp74).
The Police Station: Let me give you an idea of what you are
walking into. The conditions vary, as there is no uniformity or a set standard.
The Indian Police force was structured to enforce the will of the white sahibs
on the natives. The only change, the police force has undergone in these years
of independence, is in the color of the sahibs. The white ones are long gone;
the brown ones have taken over. The Police Station will be an intimidating
place and walking into it will be a humiliating experience. It was designed to
humiliate you. It may be dimly lit, dirty, with riff raff floating in and out
and staring at you. You will see a dark room whose door is made of steel bars.
Yes! That may very well be your abode for the weekend. You and the members of
your family will be seated on an old bench or made to stand if it gets too
crowded. You will be made to wait for hours. Lechers will stare at your sister
and the younger women of your family. As men, we are biologically and
culturally built, to be the providers and protectors of our families. This will
be one of the most difficult aspects of this situation to bear. Bear it in
silence. Don’t lose your temper and don’t do anything to jeopardize your
situation by shooting your mouth off. Think as calmly as possible. Your day
will come. The Police know that all of
you are accused in a 498A case. They make an average of Rs.10,000 for each 498A
case, and that is a very low estimate. They will also get a cut if their
mediation leads to a settlement. In the station, do not expect any kind of a
courtesy from the police. No one will listen to you. Your lawyer, if you have
one with you, may or may not be effective. You can forget about bathroom facilities.
The women will be the hardest hit. You may be fed some food from the roadside
food stall. I just hope that you won’t end up feeling sick from eating it.
Expect to spend around 8 hrs in the station. Rely on the snacks and water you
have, or have more delivered through a friend. Copyright: ipc498A.wordpress.com
3/9 11/9/07
The Police Constables: The constables will be your first
point of contact with the police. They are ill treated, uneducated people who
will behave in a manner that suits your social status. They work in inhumane
conditions and have no idea about the finer points of living in a civilized
society. Some of them will be genuinely nice to you. You need to respect their
uniform and be polite to them, but you may need to educate them about your
rights, as they would have no clue. In most cases, the constables are just
looking to make a fast buck. Don’t waste your money on them if they demand
bribes from you. They have absolutely no power to do anything for you, except
to try to fleece you. The Police Inspector: After making you wait for a
sufficient amount of time to show his importance, his Highness, the Inspector
of Police will condescend to talk to you. He is the investigating officer and
the person with the most power to settle your case. He will be your primary
adversary. He is the intimidator, the goon and the bounty hunter rolled into
one. He will be rude and uncouth. If you have connections you may want to get
connected and try to get some pressure applied on him. He may ask you a few questions.
Actually, these won’t be questions, but more along the lines of asking you to
own up to taking dowry. If the Inspector perceives that you are easy pickings,
he will try to arrest you after performing a semblance of counseling. Try to
appear tough. Put on an act. Show him
the SC judgments and assert your rights. While this is going, your lawyer
should be making every attempt to get all of you out on bail. You can get
anticipatory bail until you are arrested. There will be some attempts made at
“counseling”. There is a chance that all of you may end up being let go at this
point since ‘counseling’ has been done. Consider this to be round one. Round
two will definitely lead to arrest. Even at this stage, you may be able to
apply for anticipatory bail. Check with your lawyer and do your best to get it.
Again, do your best to get your parents out. This is your fight. Try your best
to protect your family. If you fail at
any stage or keep facing setbacks, do not give into despondency or indulge in
self-recrimination. Focus on the task at hand. All this will play out and
eventually things will be back on an even keel. Just keep your spirits up and
shake off any despondency due to setbacks. The police will play many tricks on
you. One favorite is the good cop, bad cop routine. Here is a comment from a
visitor to my blog: “What makes you
think the cops in Chennai are different from their counterparts elsewhere? The
more innocent you are, the more bribe you will have to pay. If you are from a
respectable family and earning well, then it’s a goldmine for them. The first
thing they want to verify is your social status. This gives them a good idea of
how much they can swindle from you. They have rather sophisticated ways of
swindling. They play the good cop/bad cop drama quite well. They will make sure
you make several rounds the police station in the name of inquiry/counseling…etc
and tacitly ask you to pay them something during every visit. Did you know in most cases the cops demand
around Rs. 5000 to register a false dowry complaint case? The cops are well
aware that the case is false and they see a great opportunity to fleece both
sides for money. In most cases it is the husband’s side that has to shell out
huge sums of money.” The more the harassment the Inspector subjects you to, the
better the chances are that if you complain against him, he will be nailed. The
Road To Arrest And Remand: In the event of an arrest, the chances are that
you’ve been picked up on a Friday and since you’ve been made to wait all day,
it will almost be evening and the courts will be closing so you won’t have time
to apply for bail. You and the men of your family will be held over the
weekend, but the women of your family may be allowed to leave. If you try to
reason with the police, they will brush you aside and threaten to subject you
to third degree treatment. The Inspector will do is his best not to arrest all
of you. Here is the reason why. If he arrests all of you, then there won’t be
any one to negotiate a settlement with. He needs one of you outside. Try not to
be intimidated. He is a law enforcement officer. Not a goon. Remind him of it.
Be firm. You may be quaking inside, but try not to show it. All of you will
feel exposed and helpless and to a certain extent, you will feel violated. This
is normal. You are in the hands of the Indian Criminal Justice System, which
was designed by the ‘Firangis’ to intimidate the coolies. Don’t dwell on the
moment and instead look into the future when you will be free. It may be the
same day or in a few weeks. But free, you will be. Stay STRONG!! Copyright:
ipc498A.wordpress.com 4/9 11/9/07 I also
suggest that you DON’T bribe the police to settle the case. Approximately
58,000 498A cases filed each year.
More than a lakh of people get arrested. This scene is being
played out across the country. So act differently. Surprise them. If the police
want to hold you, let them. It is a jail not a concentration camp. Make all
kinds of demands. Throw the law book at them. You may feel rage but never resort
to foul language or give in to your anger. Be non–cooperative in a
non-confrontational manner and by asserting your rights. Try to be calm and
friendly and earn their respect with your behavior. Alleviate the stress by
joking with your parents and siblings. Try to stay in command of the situation.
Above all, remember that you have rights. And heck, this is just a police
station and you can confound the police with your arguments. The police may make a halfhearted attempt to
investigate, if that. They are just trying to make a fast buck. So play on
their greed, but don’t give them anything. Keep your cool. Be polite and
arrange to have a lawyer with you ASAP! You have the right to remain silent.
Exercise this right. Be stubborn. Don’t admit to anything if you are being
intimidated. SMILE! Exchange pleasantries and keep your mouth shut. Do whatever
it takes to hold firm. This is the time when the first demands for cash will be
put forward. It will be substantial depending upon the assets you have. I expect
that it will be twice what you can afford. The police will attempt to “settle”
the case right there in the police station. The police will bargain and attempt
to mediate. Be assured, the police will get a cut. Just don’t give in. Don’t
admit to anything. You have the right to remain silent to avoid
self-incrimination. The less you say the better. Whether you are guilty or not
is for the trial court to decide. Expect the police to subject you and your
family to severe intimidation. All of you may be subjected to verbal abuse and
threats of physical injury. There have been cases of people, women too, being
strip-searched. My sister was threatened with being charged with all sorts of
crimes, unless she revealed my whereabouts. She stood firm and bore the brunt
of the harassment for me. Expect your mother and sister(s) to be addressed as
sluts and whores. Bear it with patience. Do not lose your temper. Your day will
come. The police will subject you to
this pattern of threats and intimidation to terrorize you into submission. This
is a racket where the police, the spouse, the in laws, and the lawyers get a
cut. The other side will spend money and they are expecting to recoup their
investment from you. In most cases it’s the police who hire themselves out to do
the intimidation and mediation and they will be harsh in their dealings. The
system is designed to break your will and terrify you and your family into
submission. You are promised that if you cough up the cash, they will let your
family go and the case will be withdrawn. It will then follow up with the
threat that if you do not agree to these terms and the case ends up in the
courts, your family will need to trudge to the court for years to come. Threats
will be made about jail time if the conviction takes place. IPC498A is
non-compoundable. That means it cannot be withdrawn except in the High Court of
the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The courts allow the withdrawal of a 498A case with a noble
outlook, but their leniency is leading to the propagation of this extortion
racket. Here is an explanation by Justice Shiv Narain Dhingra of the Delhi HC
(Rajinder Kumar Sharma and Another v State and Another CASE NO: Crl.M.C.
1216-17 of 2006):
“The Courts have been allowing quashing of proceedings under
Section 498A /406 Indian Penal Code, 1860 because in such cases the FIRs are
result of matrimonial discord and more often the effort of the Court is that
either the parties should settle for a compromise for living together or they
should part their company peacefully, so that, there is peace and amity in the
society. In cases resulting from matrimonial discord, the Court is not dealing
with criminal but dealing with broken marriages and broken homes where resort
is more often made to Sections 498A/406 Indian Penal Code, 1860 to teach
lessons to the family of husband or to take revenge“Bail And Deception: If you
haven’t gotten bail and are arrested, the cops will play all sorts of tricks to
keep you locked up. There is a chance that all of you may be remanded if
produced in the court. This is a part I am not clear about No definitive
procedures anywhere. They can legally hold you in jail for 60+ days without
trial. But they won’t do so. They need to justify why they are depriving a
citizen of their right to freedom. But expect to be held for a period of more
than two weeks at the least. People have been held for longer periods. To know the whereabouts of the person
arrested, you can file an RTI. They police are required to give an answer
within 48 hours. The basics of filing an RTI are given here, along with some
templates (http://tinyurl.com/32pa5p). Copyright: ipc498A.wordpress.com 5/9 11/9/07 You will be given excuses and
told that they will hold you and/or members of your family for 24 hours and
then yet another 24 hours and then another 24 hours and the next thing you
know, they will be transferred to a jail. A jail is different from the lock up
in the police station. Once in the jail, the cell phone will be taken away.
Communications will be cut. Before you know it a week passes. And it will be
the start of the weekend. There is nothing more you can do except wait for
Monday. A lot of bribing goes on in the background to prevent you from getting
out on bail. This is because, being incarcerated is a horrible experience and
the longer a person is held, the more the pressure to pay up and get them out.
Legally, the police can hold a person in jail for 60 days, but they still need
to justify it. I believe that a good criminal lawyer knows the tricks of this
trade and will be the most helpful in securing bail. Once you are taken to a
jail, you will be hitting a brick wall. The courts are the only place you can
go to get bail and get out. It is almost guaranteed that you will be taken into
custody on a day before a court holiday. It will be an agonizing experience as
for the first time; you will realize what you have gotten yourself into. There
is nothing anyone can do. If you are in jail, your family will bear the brunt
of it. If you are outside and your family is inside, both of you will bear the
brunt of this. This is a horrifying experience and rage will take over. There
are many who are going through this as you read this document. Stay calm. Your
day will come. In the meantime, THINK! Here are some tricks that are being played:
• I’ve heard that in some cases the public prosecutors (PP)
are hand in glove with the police. The way the system works is you and/or
members of your family are held in a jail. The PP won’t show up for the bail
petition hearing or he will oppose it. The next thing he will do is he will
have the date of hearing postponed as far into the future as possible. During
this time, all of you will be in a state of panic. So the police will come out
with a formula. It will involve money. Miraculously, the PP will no longer be
an obstacle. Be prepared for this.
• There is another trick that is being played. The husband,
conventionally referred to as A1, is arrested and some magistrates do not grant
bail unless the parents and the accused siblings surrender.
• I have heard that some magistrates defer orders till the
next day and then deny bail at the end of the next day. Before you know it, a
week goes by. Watch out for this. I do not know of any remedies except to file
in the High Court once the bail petition is dismissed. But that is a battle for
your lawyer to fight and this is what plan B entails. Bail from the High Court
may take 10 days. I hope your lawyer is executing plan B and filing away bail
applications in all the courts. The procedures differ by state.
The Process Of Remand And Life In Remand: A quick digression
to describe the process of remand and life in remand. Once you are arrested,
the police may produce you before a magistrate, or send you to the
district/city jail. I haven’t been able to establish a clear procedure. If they produce you before a magistrate, he
will be sitting inside a huge hall on an elevated platform. On both his sides,
on the ground level will be a steno and the bench clerk. The steno records the
proceedings and the bench clerk is the guy who will schedule appearances before
the magistrate. You will need to wait outside the court till your case is
called. It may take all day. A bailiff will announce the name of your lawyer
and your name at the door of the courthouse in a loud voice. The bailiff will
be the guy who will be in white with a red sash. There is a break in the court
proceedings every 45mins and these proceedings will go on all day. If your
lawyer bribes the bench clerk, your case may come up for hearing faster. Once you appear before the magistrate he may
or may not look at you. He has the power to grant or refuse bail, as this is a
non-bail able offence. If he decides to grant you bail, you may complete the
formalities and get on with your life. Don’t forget to thank your gods.
In the event he decides to remand you, he will make an entry
in the appropriate diary and the court constable will take you into custody and
escort you out. No one will be handcuffed or chained. The Supreme Court is very
clear about this and by now you should know which judgment I am referring to.
The court constable will process you by making notes of the birthmarks on your
body and enter a description of you in his register. He will be rude and he will offer you
unsolicited advice and jibes. When I mean you, I mean any and all members of
your family who were unfortunately remanded. There are two kinds of remands
judicial and police. You will be remanded to judicial custody and this means
you will be taken to a district or city jail. The difference between jailed and
remanded is that Copyright: ipc498A.wordpress.com 6/9 11/9/07 people are jailed after they have
been found guilty. This automatically implies that you are innocent. Don’t feel
humiliated or dejected. There is nothing to be ashamed off. You are just being
put through the process of the Indian criminal justice system. It is a process
and needs to run its course. It will run its course. The men and the women will be separated and taken to
different jails. Once you reach the jail in a police van or jeep, you will be
meeting the jailor, his staff and the judicial warden. They will take away all
your belongings, including medicines, Mangalsutra and cell phones for
safekeeping. They will account for everything that they have taken from you.
You will be given a plate, a mug, a mat and a thin sheet. You will be assigned
an Identification number. You will be taken to large halls where 20 or so
inmates will be held. These halls will have bars and no windows. Life will be difficult
for those of you who have to endure this in the winter or summer. Among the inmates will be people charged with
all sorts of crimes. In the women’s wing, most of the inmates will be charged
with 498A, bigamy and prostitution. Life in remand will be regimented and there
will be a routine that is followed. Tea will be given early in the morning.
Lunch will be served late in the morning and dinner in the early evening. You
will form a Q and stand in line with the rest to get your meals. Depending upon
the region, meals consist of rice OR roti, not both, dal, a vegetarian dish and
a glass of buttermilk. You will be served non-vegetarian meals on Sundays.
Lactating and pregnant women will be given bread in the mornings. After dinner,
all of you will be herded into these large halls and locked up. Initially, you
may not be able to eat much, if at all, but you will get used to the
routine.
The bathrooms will have no latches and there will be no
running water. You will need to carry water to the bathrooms. You will be assigned specific duties. A
doctor visits you every day in the morning to ensure that you are doing well.
In the event of any serious illness, the jail staff will immediately shift the
sick person to a local hospital and guard will be assigned to watch you in the
hospital. Otherwise, you will be sitting around all day doing nothing. My
advice to you is to treat this as a forced vacation. Your experiences in remand
may differ as it depends upon the decency of your warden. You will be allowed
to meet with visitors at set times. The jailor has set visiting hours and the
warden will make flying visits to inspect and check. The doctor will visit every
day and I have heard that proselytizing groups also visit on occasion to spread
the word of Christ. At set hours of the
day, the jail staff will announce the names of people who have been granted
bail. Generally, it is in the late morning and in the evening around 5pm. While
in remand, your routine will come down to waiting to see if you were granted
bail or not. Your life will turn into a long wait with anticipation, followed
by a feeling of being let down. The cycle repeats itself until the day your name
is announced and you are told that you would be released. Once you are granted bail and are set to be
released, you will be checked by a doctor to ensure that you are doing fine. Your
belongings will be accounted for and given back to you. The warden and the
judicial warden will inform you of the terms of your bail and repeatedly warn
you about being on time for court appearances. Failing to appear for a court
hearing, even being late, can result in you landing in this jail again. They
will also inform you about the conditions of your bail if there are any. You
will be released into the custody of your lawyer and the ride home will be an
exhilarating experience. While in remand/custody/district
jail, take each day at a time. Treat it like a forced vacation. Get into a
routine. Befriend the people around. Stay cheerful. Have prayer meetings in the
evenings. Generate good will as it pays dividends. Be polite and don’t let
anyone see your anguish. Remember this, you are in the custody of the Indian
state. Should anything happen to you, heads will roll. Make sure that someone
or the other stops by, to keep your morale up. Try to read books. Note down
your feelings in a time line. The food will be okay and your routine will be regimented.
It will be a harrowing experience. You will be under intense pressure to give
in and may want to pay up. It’s all right. Just hang on to yourself and this
will pass. Once you get out, you will feel stronger and more determined to
fight this case. This experience will rekindle the fire in you to fight back A
word of caution. Like most things in life, your experience will differ and your
experience may be a lot worse. Judicial
remand and police remand are two different things. Police remand is a
completely different ball game. I will provide more information in time. Copyright:
ipc498A.wordpress.com7/9 11/9/07
The Trial Court: Once you get home after this horrendous experience,
more attempts will be made to ensure a settlement. When this doesn’t work, the
police officer will file a charge sheet and the matter then ends up in a court.
Things will move very slowly, if at all. It may be two years before your case
comes up for examination in a trial court. After that you may need to run
around the courts for a while. The important thing to note is that the police
will be out of the picture and can no longer harass you. You can forget about a
conviction and even if the lower court convicts you, you have the appeals
process and you may be able to continue appealing all the way to the Supreme
Court. Coping With Your Emotions: Through this whole process, be prepared for a
roller coaster ride of emotions of hope and despair. You need to handle the
situation calmly and patiently. Think of the victims of the concentration
camps. Whatever it takes, just hang on. Stay strong. Do not despair. While in
remand, the state is responsible for your safety and well being. The pressure
on you to give up will be intense and your ability to think will diminish
considerably. This is the intended effect of the whole process. Relax. Start thinking.
Ask questions. Get details. Keep notes. Stay sharp. Focus. Here is the reality. You were all easy
targets. The police didn’t need to do a lot. All they needed was an address to swing
by and pick up people who had no warning about what was going to hit them. The
police have been feasting on the rich pickings that are victims of a 498A. The
police didn’t need to expend any energy to capture some moms, grandmas, aunts,
dads, brothers, sisters, uncles or children, in the quiet of their home,
oblivious to the ordeal that awaits them. They have done their worst to you and
you’ve survived. I am sure that you never believed that you or your family
would see the inside of a jail. Well, thanks to the 498A Wife, it’s happened.
One of the most difficult things you will ever do, will be getting a grip over
yourself and making sense of what had happened.
Don’t try to make sense of what had happened. This is a vendetta and the
failure of the state to legislate effective laws and nothing more. As soon as
you are out on bail, get back to work, don’t dwell on this traumatic experience
and try to pull your family together. Make sure that each and every member of
your family gets busy and does something to occupy the mselves. Be cheerful about what you underwent. Don’t
let her think that she has you beaten. Take care of your parents and put on an
appearance of being strong and unflappable to them. A period of unease and a
sense of being violated will ensue for months. Be strong, slowly but surely,
this feeling will dissipate and life will be as normal as it can be and you
will learn to live with a criminal case hanging over your head. As time goes by, you will get stronger, the
worst is over. In reality, post arrest,
you will feel like you’ve been reduced to nothing, that your life has no
significance and that you have achieved nothing. Your confidence and
self-esteem take a huge hit and there will be an urge to curl up in a corner.
Don’t give into this. The intended effect is to bring you to your knees, wear
you out and get your money. Rise UP above all this. Pull yourself together and
fight back. If you see them, SMILE! Don’t give them the joy of seeing you
suffer or getting a reaction out of you. Don’t ever lose your temper and never
let them see your tears. You are not the first person to face a 498A, though I
do hope that you will be the last. A
huge benefit of getting implicated in a false 498A and seeing the inside of a
prison, is the change in your mental psyche. For some people, seeing the inside
of a prison will be a humiliating experience which they would rather not talk
about and the experience will leave scars forever. For many others, if you
don’t succumb to the pressure and put up a fight, this experience will boost
your mental the strength. They have done the worst they can. What else can they
do? The courts will require evidence
beyond reasonable doubt for conviction. There are so many false 498A cases being
filed across the country, that even the real perpetrators of the crime of dowry
harassment won’t get convicted. The process just takes way too long. If the
lower court does convict you, you can always appeal at the next level and continue
to live your life. I agree that it is a hassle. But then, we all pay for our
mistakes and bringing a 498A wife into the house is such a mistake. This was an
act of fate and you have to live with it. I’ve come to believe that life is
about how you answer the questions it asks you. You’ll do better if you start
considering your 498A case to be one such question that life threw at you. What is the best thing you can do to deal
with the situation you in? Forgive. Forgive your wife, but don’t forget what she
put you through. Channel your anger into a cause or your profession and let it
drive you till it dissipates. Copyright:
ipc498A.wordpress.com 8/9 11/9/07
Your time will come. Till then prepare the groundwork for
retaliation and do the things you love to do. The judges and the courts know
that the law is being abused. In time, the tide will turn in the favor of those
who have been falsely implicated in this extortion racket. The Effects On Your Professional Life: I’ve
always been an achiever. I work hard and put my heart and soul into achieving
whatever interests me. My primary motivation has always been the satisfaction
one gets upon accomplishment of a goal. Failure is not an option. Professionally,
I’ve always been considered an asset wherever I’ve been. Here is an example of
the kind of letters of appreciation that I got, consistently. This was from the
manager of the infrastructure team that supported the project I was working
on. Here is what he had to say to my
manager: “I just wanted to let you know,
XXXX has down a great job with this project.
He has been very professional and shown an above and beyond
dedication.” Here is another one from
another manager: “Thank you, XXXX! I
just want you to know that you have really stood out! You have taken ownership and have seen it
through. You have taken a lot of stress
off of me! The vendor has commented on
this as well.” This was prior to the filing of the 498A. Post 498A things
changed a bit. Here is an email from my last manager:
“What I'm seeing today looks like you are just coming by to
give me the latest excuse as to why you are taking too long. Just fix it, get it done and move on. You
need to find a way to get things done in a reasonable amount of time. We need
to be able to count on you to contribute and do your part.” In my defense, I found it painful to work for
this guy as he could de-motivate anybody. I have the ability to turn a situation
like this around. Except, this time, I couldn’t. Something in me just gave out
and I ended up resigning. I would rather resign than be considered a
liability. It is insulting and demeaning
to have someone say such things about you professionally. But this is the
reality that many men who get entangled in this mess, will experience. How does one cope with this situation? Hang on; take a break or try to do work that
does not tax you. Know what has happened to you and don’t let your self-esteem
be affected negatively. This phase will
pass. Be patient. Read on to understand
what you can do fight back against this injustice. Copyright:
ipc498A.wordpress.com 9/9 11/9/07 A GUIDE TO SURVIVING IPC 498A
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