UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Financial dominance over wife cannot qualify as ‘cruelty’: SC

Q1. The Supreme Court judgment of December 2025 that held a husband's monetary and financial dominance over his wife does not, by itself, qualify as 'cruelty' under Section 498A IPC was delivered by a bench headed by which one of the following judges?

  • A. Justice B.V. Nagarathna
  • B. Justice Hima Kohli
  • C. Justice Bela M. Trivedi
  • D. Justice Pankaj Mithal

Q2. Under Section 498A of the IPC (now Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023) — the provision interpreted by the Supreme Court in its December 2025 'financial dominance' ruling — what is the maximum term of imprisonment that may be imposed on a husband or his relative for subjecting a married woman to cruelty?

  • A. One year
  • B. Two years
  • C. Three years
  • D. Seven years

Q3. Which one of the following is the nodal Union Ministry under whose administrative purview the Indian Penal Code, 1860 and its successor — the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (containing Sections 85 and 86 on cruelty by a husband, interpreted in the December 2025 Supreme Court ruling) — fall?

  • A. Ministry of Women and Child Development
  • B. Ministry of Law and Justice
  • C. Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment
  • D. Ministry of Home Affairs

Q4. With reference to the legal provisions on cruelty by a husband or his relatives — interpreted by the Supreme Court in its December 2025 'financial dominance is not cruelty' ruling — consider the following statements: 1. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was inserted by the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983; its successor under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is contained in Sections 85 and 86, which came into force on 1 July 2024. 2. Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the explanation defining 'cruelty' has been carved out into a separate section (Section 86), whereas under the IPC the offence and the definition of 'cruelty' were contained within Section 498A itself. 3. Unlike its IPC predecessor, the offence under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been made bailable and compoundable. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 was inserted by the Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983; its successor under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 is contained in Sections 85 and 86, which came into force on 1 July 2024.
  2. Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the explanation defining 'cruelty' has been carved out into a separate section (Section 86), whereas under the IPC the offence and the definition of 'cruelty' were contained within Section 498A itself.
  3. Unlike its IPC predecessor, the offence under Section 85 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has been made bailable and compoundable.
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1 and 3 only
  • C. 2 and 3 only
  • D. 1, 2 and 3

Q5. Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code — the provision interpreted by the Supreme Court in its December 2025 ruling that financial dominance over a wife is not 'cruelty' — was inserted into the IPC by which one of the following enactments?

  • A. Dowry Prohibition (Amendment) Act, 1986
  • B. Criminal Law (Second Amendment) Act, 1983
  • C. Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005
  • D. Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986