HYDERABAD: Pleading that the High Court constitute a special bench for hearing cases registered under Section 498 (A) of IPC that deals with harassment of a woman by her husband or his relative, senior High Court advocate Gopala Krishna Kalanidhi has said that police station house officers have almost stopped entertaining complaints and registering harassment cases under the section after the Supreme Court’s judgment in Rajesh Sharma case.
In the Rajesh Sharma case, the apex court had observed that misuse of Section 498A was rampant and directed the formation of welfare committees to look into cases before action is taken. “The police are refusing to register FIRs under the pretext that committees have not been constituted to deal with such cases,” Kalanidhi argued. “The Supreme Court must review Rajesh Sharma case judgment. The HCs will have to appoint special judges for dealing with such cases,’’ the advocate demanded at a press meet on Friday.