Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam   

Is dowry law serving its purpose?

Under the scanner: Accused persons being arrested in a dowry case.

VISAKHAPATNAM: Legislations are made to safeguard the interests of certain sections of society. And in tune with that, the Dowry Protection Act was amended in 1983 to give birth to IPC 498a.

The idea was to add more teeth to the Act to protect women from physical and psychological violence after marriage. But, of late, a part of society, including a chunk of the legal fraternity, feels that the Act is being misused.

As per the provision under IPC 498a, the police can arrest any person, be it the husband, in-laws or distant relatives, whoever is mentioned in the complaint filed by the married woman, without a warrant.

The Act prescribes non-bail-able warrant -- it is non-compoundable and treated as a cognisable offence.

“The 498a had come into force when the concept of dowry had shaped into extortion and suicide and bride-burning cases were rampant.

But over the years, it seems to have lost its purpose and is being used as a weapon by many women just to harass their husbands and in-laws by fabricating cases,” says D.V. Subba Rao, advocate and former Chairman of Bar Council of India.

An affluent Marwari family, which was made to cough up Rs.30 lakhs recently for settlement, claims that the Act has become a tool for extortion.

“The bride’s family virtually held us for ransom till we paid the amount. And in certain states like West Bengal and Bihar, there are organised gangs who operate under the guise of social workers to do the settlement. At any point of time, no decent family would like its members to be arrested or sent for remand, and they are taking advantage of that aspect of the Act. There seems to be nexus between pressure groups – the police and the legal fraternity,” says a member of the family.

Another lawyer P.A.K. Kishore points out that in a family there is bound to be harmony and disharmony in the husband and wife relationship. “But, unfortunately many women are fabricating cases on trivial issues to get things done.

If you do not take your wife for a movie or to a restaurant, she can simply fabricate a case the next day and get you arrested under the 498a section, and the police will blindly arrest you without an inquiry or investigation, since it is considered to be a cognisable offence.

It is more common in the urban set-up than in the rural areas. Everyday the court receives at least one 498a case on an average,” he says.

The Act clearly empowers the police to make arrest without investigation or magistrate’s order and is non-compoundable, leaving no space for compromise at a later stage.

Justice Malimath committee, in its report, clearly indicated its misuse and recommended that it be made compoundable and non-cognisable.

A few states like Andhra Pradesh have already made it compoundable but it is still non-bailable and cognisable.

However, K. Padma of Mahila Chetana says: “Every legislation is misused in one way or the other.

Recently the SC and ST Atrocities Act was misused against the editor of a newspaper. Legislations are misused with the help of money and muscle power. IPC 498a is a protective Act. And protective laws could prove to be an angel for one and devil for the other.

Since ages, it has been a male-dominated society and people are afraid of women empowerment. This Act should not be tampered with,” she says.

According to a survey by NCRB (National Crime Records Bureau), while the number of cases under 498a is on the rise, the conviction rate is barely 3 per cent and over 1.17 lakh women were arrested in the last four years under this section.

“The irony is that the Act has been actually introduced to save women from atrocities but more and more women are being harassed,” says Mr. Kishore.

“Talking about misuse does not mean that we are against the law. We favour women empowerment and protective laws are necessary.

But that does not mean you do not leave any space for the other side.

The law cannot be misused to harass aging parents and relatives who do not come in the picture.

If we go into the finer details, one would notice that it is breaking the age-old institution of marriage. Legislations can only act as deterrents and they cannot be the panacea to the problem. We are a progressive society and the solution lies in the mindset,” says Mr. Subba Rao.

Many senior legal professionals favour that the section be made bailable, compoundable and non-cognisable.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

New railway timetable takes effect today
Bhoo Poratam from July 15
Manam for new coop law
Senior officer to probe attack
Did Maoist top guns participate in attack?
Fishermen protest against pipeline
Is dowry law serving its purpose?
‘Better to invest in FMP’
Injured constables operated upon

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu