Section 498A IPC to Section 85 BNS
From Section 498A IPC to Section 85 BNS: Continuity in Protection Against Domestic Cruelty
When the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), several provisions were migrated into the new code. One such important safeguard for women — Section 498A of the IPC — now appears as Section 85 of the BNS. Although the criminal code’s structure has changed, the substantive protection against domestic cruelty remains intact.
Section 498A IPC: The original protection
Section 498A was introduced to protect women from cruelty and harassment by their husbands and relatives. Its scope included acts that could:
drive a woman to suicide,
cause grave injury to her life or health, or
amount to harassment aimed at extracting unlawful demands (often in a dowry context).
The punishment under the old provision was imprisonment for up to three years and a fine.
Section 85 BNS: What’s carried forward
Under the BNS, Section 85 preserves the same core elements — the definition of cruelty, the class of persons who may be held liable (husband and his relatives), and the penal consequences (up to three years’ imprisonment plus fine). In short: substance has been carried over, even as the statutory text now sits in the new code.
Case Laws
In Inder Raj Malik v. Sunita Malik (1986), the Delhi High Court held that the word ‘cruelty’ is defined in the explanation which inter alia says that harassment of a woman with a view to coerce her or any related persons to meet any unlawful demand for any property or any valuable security is cruelty.
B.S Joshi v. State of Haryana (2003), the Supreme Court held that the objective of introducing Section 498A of IPC was to prevent torture to a woman by her husband or by relatives of her husband. It was added with a view to punishing the husband as well as his relatives who are involved in an act of harassing the wife to satisfy unlawful demands of dowry.
These rulings have shaped judicial understanding of “cruelty” and the scope of liability — principles that continue to inform interpretation under Section 85 BNS because the underlying language and legislative intent remain substantially the same.
Conclusion
The move from IPC to BNS is primarily structural. For victims of domestic cruelty, the legal remedies and the protective purpose of the law remain consistent: Section 85 BNS retains the spirit and protections of former Section 498A IPC, supported by the judicial precedents that shaped the law’s meaning.
