‘I told the judge – NCRB report shows that many men in the country are committing suicide due to false cases, then the wife interjected – Why don’t you also commit suicide. The judge laughed at this and said that these cases are false, you are talking about the family.
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You must have seen this video of 34 year old Atul Subhash. Before suicide, he raised many serious questions on the country’s justice system and false cases against men, which are being discussed everywhere. We will understand these questions in today’s explainer…
Question 1: What is the whole story of Atul Subhash, why did he commit suicide? Answer: Atul Subhash, originally from Bihar, worked as an AI software engineer in a private company in Bengaluru. Apart from Atul, his family consists of his parents and a younger brother.
Atul had said in the last video,
I think it would be better for me to die, because with the money I am earning, I am strengthening my own enemy. With my own tax money, this court, this police and the entire system will harass me, my family and many others like me.
Question 2: What big questions did Atul Subhash raise in his last video? Answer: Before committing suicide, Atul made a 120-minute video and shared it on social media. In this he raised 4 big questions…
1. Harassment by wife: Atul said, ‘I give maintenance of Rs 40 thousand to my wife every month. Despite this, she is demanding Rs 2-4 lakh per month as expenses for raising the child. My wife neither lets me meet my son nor makes me talk to him.
2. The judge did not do justice by supporting the wife: Atul said that my wife had initially demanded Rs 1 crore to settle this case, but later it was increased to Rs 3 crore. When I told the judge of the Family Court of Jaunpur about the demand of Rs 3 crore, he also supported my wife.
3. Judge accused of demanding bribe: Atul said that Judge Neeta Kaushik does corruption in the court. Their muscular Madhav takes 50 rupees from common man and 500 to 1 thousand rupees from big people, only then he gets the date as per his wish. Neeta Kaushik gives decision by taking bribe. He asked for a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to postpone the case.
4. Wife’s family has no fear of law: Atul told that when he talked to his mother-in-law about this matter, her mother-in-law said that you have not committed suicide yet, I thought the news of your suicide would come today. On this, Atul replied that if I die, how will your party run? The mother-in-law replied, ‘Your father will give the money.’ After the death of the husband, everything belongs to the wife. Your parents will also die soon. The daughter-in-law has a part in that too. Your entire family will make rounds of the court for the rest of your life.
Atul wrote in his last wish, ‘There should be live telecast of the hearing of my case. My wife should not touch my dead body. Unless those who tortured me are punished, my ashes should not be immersed. If the corrupt judge acquits my wife and her family, then my ashes should be thrown into a gutter outside the same court. The custody of my son should be given to my parents.
Letter from Atul Subhash.
Question 3: What is the law for dowry harassment and is it being misused? Answer: Under Indian law, both giving and taking dowry is a crime. For this, a case was registered under section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). When IPC was changed to BNS, these provisions are now in Section 85 and 86.
According to experts, problems in marital life do not arise only because of dowry. Disputes can arise due to many other reasons also. For example, someone’s mother-in-law and father-in-law do not get along or the husband is not able to give much time. There is no separate remedy for this in the law, hence to teach a lesson, a case is filed under dowry harassment. Its provisions are very strict.
In these cases the woman does not have to provide proof of the allegations. After the case is registered, the burden of proof is on the man, that is, he himself has to prove his innocence.
On December 10, 2024, during the hearing of a case, the Supreme Court said that women are misusing Section 498A. Supreme Court said-
Sometimes, Section 498A of IPC is invoked against the husband and his family members to fulfill the wrong demands of the wife. In view of this, the court has earlier also warned that allegations of domestic abuse without any solid evidence cannot be made against anyone. Cannot form the basis of a criminal case.
Calcutta High Court even said that by misusing Section 498A, women have created ‘legal terror’.
Question 4: What is Section 377 for unnatural sex and is it being misused? Answer: Section 377 was imposed on any person who had unnatural sex with a man, woman or animal. This is a crime. This can result in a punishment of up to ten years.
According to Indian law, the husband cannot be accused of rape, hence many times allegations of unnatural sex are made so that the husband cannot get bail. Mere penetration is enough to prove such a case.
However, in 2024, the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, while hearing a husband’s petition, had rejected the allegations of forced unnatural sex made by his wife. The High Court said during the hearing, ‘If the wife’s age is more than 15 years and she is married, then if the husband has any kind of sexual behavior with the wife, then it cannot be put in the category of rape.’
The section of unnatural sex has not been included in the Indian Judicial Code i.e. BNS.
Question 5: Atul Subhash was called 120 times in 3 years, appeared 40 times, is the long legal process also a harassment? Answer: Atul’s father Pawan Kumar said,
Atul used to say that work is not done as per the law in the conciliation court, even the rules of the Supreme Court are not followed here. He had to go from Bengaluru to Jaunpur 40 times. His wife kept filing case after case against him. He must have been very tired, but he never told us anything.
According to senior Supreme Court advocate Ashwini Dubey, ‘There is no doubt that India’s legal process is very long. Unless the time management of court proceedings and the shortage of judges is not addressed, this situation will continue.
While giving information in the Lok Sabha on December 15, 2023, Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal had said that till December 1, 2023, 5 crore 8 lakh 85 thousand 856 cases are left for hearing in the courts across the country. Of these, more than 61 lakh cases are pending in 25 High Courts. There are 4.4 crore pending cases in the district courts. More than 70% of these cases are pending for more than 5 years.
Atul Subhash also posted his video on social media platform X.
Question 6: What is alimony and how is its amount decided? Answer: When one person provides financial help to another weak or disabled person for basic needs like food, clothing, house, education and medical, then it is called maintenance. Under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, there are two types of alimony-
1. Interim Maintenance: When the case is pending in the court, the maintenance that is fixed for that period is interim maintenance. For example, if a divorce case goes to the court, the court fixes an amount till the final decision is taken. As long as the case is pending, the husband will have to pay that fixed amount to the wife as maintenance.
2. Permanent Alimony: The husband has to pay the amount decided by the court in the final decision of divorce to the wife for life. Sometimes there may be some terms and conditions along with it. Like until the wife remarries etc. Necessary provisions regarding maintenance have been made in Sections 36 and 37 of the Special Marriage Act.
Apart from this, there are provisions for maintenance allowance in Section 36 and 37 of the Special Marriage Act. How much maintenance will have to be paid is decided by looking at the income, assets, responsibilities and needs of the person. There is no fixed upper or lower limit for it. Atul Subhash claims that he was asked to pay alimony of Rs 80 thousand every month.
Question 7: Was there no other legal option left for Atul Subhash? Answer: According to Ashwini Dubey, Atul should have trusted the Indian judiciary. If there is no hearing in the lower courts, they could also file a case in the Supreme Court. Atul Subhash should not have chosen the path of suicide, but it is difficult to say what his mental condition was at that time.
Question 8: Do men have any option if their wife or in-laws implicate them in a false case? Answer: According to Ashwini Dubey, ‘There is no case against those who file false cases of dowry harassment. Currently, there is no law that can punish those who file false cases in this matter. In such a situation, the victimized men are left with only two options – civil remedy and criminal remedy.
Question 9: What further action can be taken in the allegations that Atul has made against his wife, mother-in-law and judge in his last video? Answer: Ashwini Dubey says that the allegations made by Atul against the judiciary and Nikita in the video have not been proven yet. Atul accused Nikita of harassment in the video. Atul’s brother has also filed a case against Nikita’s family.
If Nikita is found guilty in this case, she will be prosecuted under Section 108 of BNS, Abetment of Suicide. Under this, he can be punished up to 10 years. At the same time, the Higher Judiciary can investigate the allegations against Jaunpur Civil Court Judge Rita Kaushik.
Atul Subhash has accused the judge of demanding a bribe of Rs 5 lakh.
Question 10: Are cases of male suicide increasing? Answer: In 2023, Supreme Court advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari filed a petition. In this he demanded the establishment of a National Men’s Commission. This commission will work to deal with the increasing cases of suicide among married men who are victims of domestic violence.
Mahesh Kumar cited the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)’s 2021 report on accidental deaths in India. According to this report, more than 1.64 lakh people committed suicide across the country in 2021. Of these, more than 81 thousand people were married men and about 28 thousand were married women.
The NCRB report said that in 2021, about 33.2% men committed suicide due to family problems and 4.8% due to marital problems.
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Research cooperation- Ayush Aggarwal
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Read other news related to Atul Subhash
AI engineer’s in-laws got angry after seeing the media: Said- Switch off the phone, things will go wrong; Dead body of Atul from Bihar found in Bengaluru
‘Brother, switch off the phone, otherwise something will go wrong. We will not say anything. If you want to know something then go to court. Saying this, the mother-in-law and brother-in-law of AI engineer Atul Subhash in Bengaluru got angry. Atul Subhash’s body was found in his flat in Bengaluru. Read the full news…