Section 498A is a criminal law provision inserted into the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which deals with matrimonial cruelty. It was introduced in 1983 by the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983 (46 of 1983), to combat the rising menace of dowry-related violence and cruelty against married women. The provision criminalizes the act of a husband or his relatives subjecting a woman to cruelty.
The key mechanism of Section 498A is its definition of "cruelty," which includes two main components: first, any willful conduct likely to drive the woman to commit suicide or cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb, or health (mental or physical); and second, harassment with a view to coercing her or her relatives to meet any unlawful demand for property or valuable security (dowry harassment). The offence is cognizable, non-bailable, and carries a punishment of imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and a fine.
Section 498A is closely connected to Section 304B of the IPC, which defines "dowry death" and was introduced in 1986. It also works alongside the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, and the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005.
The provision has undergone a significant recent change in its application, though the text of the IPC section itself remains the same. In August 2026, the Supreme Court, in Dr Lokesh B.H. & Ors v. State of Karnataka & Anr, held that the protection under Section 498A is not confined to legally married women and can extend to women in live-in relationships that are "in the nature of marriage". This purposive construction ensures that a person cannot evade criminal liability by claiming the marriage was not technically valid. Furthermore, the provision is set to be replaced by Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which was introduced in 2023.