PANDEY NEERAJ RAI

For several months we have been inundated with obscene phone calls, especially at night. Initially we lost sleep, later got irritated and reacted angrily. Then, we started ignoring the calls by keeping the phone off the hook. What legal steps can we take to end the menace? (TNV)

Obscene phone calls are prohibited under the provisions of the Indian Telegraph Rules. You can lodge a complaint with the officer-in-charge of your telephone exchange. The official would put your telephone and that of the caller under observation. When the obscene calls are made, the calling number will be identified and the conversation recorded. A notice would be issued to the subscriber from whose telephone the call has been made. If the explanation is unsatisfactory, the subscribers telephone can be disconnected.

You may also inform the police who will launch an investigation to nab the culprit who would be liable for criminal prosecution under provisions of the Indian Penal Code.

I had given an expensive salwar suit to a dry cleaner. But when I went to collect it on the due date I found holes in the kurta. I protested and refused to take back the suit, which was damaged. What should I do now? (NS)

You must approach the consumer forum and lodge a complaint against the dry cleaner for poor service. Apart from getting the cost price of the salwar suit, you could also claim compensation for the harassment caused to you by poor service. Retain the bill given to you by the dry cleaner.

Two years ago I married a colleague of mine with whom I had an affair. But after the marriage I came to know that he was already married. He had married two-and-a-half years before our wedding. I tried my best to adjust with my husband and his first wife. But after two months of marriage, I was driven out from my husband’s house. Now, he refuses to recognise me as his wife on the ground that our marriage was not valid. Can I take action against him under criminal law? (MS)

Yes, under Section 498 A of the Indian Penal Code you can file a criminal case against your husband. Under Section 498 A, IPC, irrespective of whether your marriage is valid or not in the eyes of law, you are to be treated as wife for limited purposes. If you have not been treated as wife, your husband will have to face criminal prosecution for cruelty.

There is a rivulet which runs close to my house. The water of the rivulet is generally used for domestic purposes by me as well as others in the nearby localities, especially when there is a scarcity of municipal supply water. But the rivulet is being polluted with effluents from an adjacent small-scale unit. We fear serious health hazards because of pollution in the rivulet. Can I seek any redressal against such pollution and if so, how? (OPP)

You must immediately inform the pollution control board about the problem. It’s the board’s duty to take action against the polluting units. The board has the power to take steps to prevent water pollution, and if necessary, to halt the functioning of the factory. If the board fails to take action, you may move the high court for appropriate directions against the pollution as well as the industrial unit.