The Bombay High Court on October 11, 2022 requested the Union of India to make the offence under Section 498-A to be compoundable with the permission of the concerned court, since the litigants and the court are facing hardship who want to approach the court to get such cases quashed. The Court also observed that every day 10 such petitions are being filed before the court.

The Division Bench, comprising of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice SM Modak, have requested the Additional Solicitor General to present the said proposal to the Ministry, stating that

"We may note here, that every day, we have a minimum of 10 petitions/applications seeking quashing of Section 498A by consent, since 498A is non-compoundable. Concerned parties, have to come personally before the Court from wherever they are residing, including from villages, thus incurring tremendous hardships for the parties concerned, apart from travelling expenses, litigation expenses and staying expenses in the city. Parties, if working, are required to take a day off. Apart from the hardships caused to parties, if Section 498A is made compoundable with the permission of the Court, precious time of the Court can be saved."

Further, the court also followed the precedent set by the State of Andhra Pradesh in 2003 by making the offence under Section 498-A compoundable with the consent of the court, although necessary, does save a lot of time for the court and parties involved in the case.

The Division bench also referred to the National Crime Record Bureau report of 2020, where a total of 1,11,549 cases were registered under 498A during that period. Police closed 14% of cases; 96,497 men and 23,809 women were arrested; and only 18,967 cases were tried in courts, with 14,340 resulting in discharge and 3,425 resulting in conviction. The pendency of 498-A cases in that year was 6, 51,404-96.2%.

In response to the aforementioned comment, Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni informed the bench that the Maharashtra government passed a bill in 2018 that would amend Section 320 (2) of the Criminal Procedure Code to make Section 498-A of the IPC compoundable. The bill was then sent to the Union for the President's assent.

Case title: - Sandip Sarjerao Sule and Ors. versus The State of Maharashtra and Anr.