About 9% of cases on harrassment of women false: MoS Home

New Delhi: About nine per cent of cases of cruelty or harrassment of women registered in 2013, were false or bad in law, Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

However, "there is no direct evidence or study available to suggest that this (section 498A of IPC) is one of the most abused laws in the country," Minister of State for Home Affairs Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary said in reply to a written question.

Quoting National Crime Records Bureau data, he said that in 2013, a total of 1,18,866 cases were registered under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code for cruelty by husband or his relatives. The section deals with subjecting of a woman to cruelty by the husband or his relatives.

The number of such cases was 1,06,527 in 2012 and 99,135 in the previous year.

"After police investigation, 10,193 cases in 2011, 10,235 in 2012 and 10,864 in 2013 were found to be false or suffering from mistake of fact or law," the Minister said.

He said the Law Commission of India in two of its reports had recommended that Section 498A should be made compoundable with the permission of the courts.

"The Government has accepted these recommendations," he said.

Replying to supplementary questions, Minister of State for Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the process to make the provision compoundable has been started, but assured the House that women would get justice if they are harassed.