INSIGHTS
Matrimonial law · Criminal law
Matrimonial Cruelty Under the BNS: Understanding Sections 85 and 86
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita separates the offence concerning cruelty by a husband or his relative from the definition of “cruelty” used for that offence. Reading the two provisions together is essential.
Sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS) address a defined criminal offence. They do not turn every painful disagreement or breakdown in a marriage into a criminal case; the statutory ingredients and evidence must be considered.
How Sections 85 and 86 work together
Section 85 deals with a husband or a relative of a husband subjecting a woman to cruelty. Section 86 supplies the meaning of cruelty for Section 85. In broad terms, it covers either:
- wilful conduct of a kind likely to drive the woman to suicide or cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb or health, including mental health; or
- harassment connected with coercing her or a person related to her to meet an unlawful demand for property or valuable security, or because such a demand has not been met.
This is a statutory definition, not a general description of all conduct that may be unfair or harmful in a relationship. Whether alleged conduct falls within it depends on the facts and the evidence.
Criminal cruelty is not the same question as divorce
A criminal allegation under the BNS and a request for matrimonial relief are separate legal questions. For example, the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 addresses cruelty as one of its divorce grounds; that civil-law inquiry is not interchangeable with the offence and definition in BNS Sections 85 and 86. The applicable marriage statute and the facts determine the relevant test in a matrimonial proceeding.
The change from the IPC requires care
The BNS came into force on 1 July 2024. Older cases and records may refer to Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (IPC), while the BNS now sets out Sections 85 and 86. The BNS also contains a repeal-and-savings provision. If alleged conduct or a proceeding straddles the commencement of the new code, the applicable provision cannot safely be selected from a section-number comparison alone; the dates, procedural posture and savings rules must be examined.
For that reason, an older judgment under the IPC should not be described as a direct interpretation of the BNS wording unless a court has actually decided that question.
What a careful assessment involves
The nature and context of the alleged conduct, the statutory limb relied upon, the persons’ individual roles and the supporting material all matter. A complaint or accusation is an allegation, not a finding of guilt. The court process is where the legal ingredients and evidence are assessed; this short overview cannot determine whether any particular facts meet the threshold.
