The Supreme Court on Friday expressed strong disapproval of a petition filed by a man convicted in 2015 under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), who had been sentenced for torturing his wife in connection with a dowry demand.
The bench, comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh, also reprimanded the man for failing to provide support for his daughters.
"What kind of a man you are if you don't even care for your daughters? How can we allow such a cruel man to enter our court at all ! Sara din Ghar pe kabhi saraswati puja and kabhi laxmi puja. Aur fir yeh sab," Justice Kant said.
The Court stated that it could consider passing an order in his favor only if he agrees to transfer a portion of his agricultural land to his daughters.
"If he says he will transfer the agricultural land to his daughters, then we will pass some favourable order," it remarked.
The petitioner, Yogeshwar Sao, was convicted in 2015 and sentenced to two and a half years of imprisonment in a case that dates back to 2009. The trial court had found him guilty of torturing his wife over a dowry demand of ₹50,000. The couple, married in 2003, have two daughters.
It was also alleged that he had forced his wife to undergo a hysterectomy and that he remarried another woman. In 2016, the Jharkhand High Court suspended his sentence after he had served eleven months in custody.
In September 2024, the High Court upheld his conviction but did not find any evidence supporting the allegations of uterus removal or remarriage. As a partial relief, the Court reduced his sentence to one and a half years and imposed a fine of ₹1 lakh.
Subsequently, the man approached the Supreme Court in December 2024.
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