Section 85 BNS: Cruelty by Husband (Old IPC 498A)

For more than forty years, cruelty to a wife by her husband or his family was "498A". Since 1 July 2024 it is Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the meaning of cruelty has moved into a section of its own, Section 86. The words and the punishment are the same as before.

Here is what the two sections say, what counts as cruelty, how arrest and bail work today, and when the High Court ends these cases.

What Sections 85 and 86 say

Section 85: a husband, or a relative of the husband, who subjects a woman to cruelty is punished with up to three years and a fine.

Section 86 says cruelty means either of two things:

• 86(a): wilful conduct of a kind likely to drive the woman to suicide, or to cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb or health, mental or physical; or
• 86(b): harassing her to force her or her family to meet an unlawful demand for property or valuable security, or because they failed to meet one. This is the dowry limb.

In Achin Gupta v. State of Haryana (2024) the Supreme Court noted that Sections 85 and 86 copy IPC 498A word for word, and asked Parliament to look at the misuse concerns before the BNS came into force. No change has been made so far, so the old case law on 498A still applies.

Old sections and their new numbers

Acts of cruelty before 1 July 2024 are still charged under IPC 498A. For any other section, the IPC to BNS converter gives the new number and what changed.

What counts as cruelty

Not every quarrel in a marriage is cruelty under Section 86. Courts look for conduct that is wilful and serious enough to fit one of the two limbs. Examples that courts have accepted include:

• repeated beating or threats of violence;
• demands for money, a car or property, with harassment when they aren't met;
• sending her back to her parents' home until a demand is met;
• sustained abuse or humiliation that affects her mental health;
• denying food, medical care or access to her children as pressure.

The complaint should give dates, what was said or done, by whom, and any witnesses, medical records or messages. Specific facts matter more than strong words.

The relatives problem

Section 85 covers the husband and his relatives, and complaints often name the whole family, including sisters who live elsewhere and elderly parents. The Supreme Court has warned against this many times. In Dara Lakshmi Narayana v. State of Telangana (2024) it quashed the case against the husband's relatives because the allegations against them were general and vague, and said such cases should not be used to drag in the entire family.

For a relative, the question is what they personally did, when and how. If the FIR says nothing specific about them, they can ask the High Court to quash it under Section 528 of the BNSS.

Arrest, bail and the cooling period

• No automatic arrest.Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar (2014), a 498A case, requires the police to check whether an arrest is really needed for offences carrying seven years or less, and to issue a notice to appear where it isn't. Magistrates must not approve detention as a matter of routine. That rule now works through Section 35 of the BNSS.
• The cooling period.In Shivangi Bansal v. Sahib Bansal (2025) the Supreme Court directed that the Allahabad High Court's guidelines be followed: for two months after the complaint, no arrest or coercive action, and the matter goes to a Family Welfare Committee. This applies where there are no injuries and the other charges carry less than ten years.
• Bail. Regular bail goes to the Magistrate under Section 480 of the BNSS, or the Sessions Court. Anyone who fears arrest can seek anticipatory bail under Section 482 of the BNSS.
• Who can file in court. Under Section 220 of the BNSS, a court takes up a Section 85 case only on a police report, or a complaint by the woman, her parents, siblings, or her parents' siblings. Other relatives need the court's leave.

Other remedies a woman has

A criminal case is one route, and often not the fastest. Alongside it, or instead of it:

• the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 gives protection orders, the right to stay in the shared household, and monetary relief, from a Magistrate;
• maintenance for her and the children under Section 144 of the BNSS, the old CrPC 125;
• the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, which punishes giving, taking and demanding dowry;
• divorce on the ground of cruelty, which often starts with a legal notice.

If a woman dies within seven years of marriage after cruelty linked to dowry, the offence becomes dowry death under Section 80, and the court presumes that whoever harassed her soon before her death caused it.

Questions people ask

Reading an old FIR that says "498A"? The IPC 498A page shows Sections 85 and 86 side by side with the old text.

This is general information, not legal advice. Check the bare Act and speak to a lawyer about your own case.