The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Visakhapatnam News : “CP’s circular on dowry cases soon”

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Friday, Oct 17, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

“CP’s circular on dowry cases soon”

Staff Reporter

Officers will be asked not to make arrests without proper enquiry, says NGO

Currently, the relevant section empowers police to arrest anyone without warrant
Majority of cases booked under the section turned out to be false

VISAKHAPATNAM: Bridegrooms and their relatives who face the threat of being harassed by brides and their family members under Section 498 A or Dowry Prohibition Act can now breathe easy.

Briefing the press here on Thursday, coordinator of Save Indian Family Foundation B.K. Agarwal informed that Commissioner of Police N. Sambasiva Rao had accepted to send a circular to all police stations under his jurisdiction instructing the officers concerned not to arrest any person under Sec 498 A or the Dowry Prohibition Act without making a proper investigation and obtaining a written permission from the officer of the rank of a Deputy Commissioner of Police or Assistant Commissioner of Police. The investigating officer should submit full details of the case diary and investigation report to the DCP or the ACP prior to obtaining the permission.

“The Commissioner’s order will be in line with the Apex Court’s judgment in the case of Joginder Kumar Vs the State of UP of 1994 and the order issued by the then Commissioner of Police of Hyderabad in 2002,” said Mr. Agarwal.

As of now, the section empowers the police to arrest any person, be they husband, in-laws or distant relatives, solely based on the complaint filed by the married woman without a warrant and under the pretext of dowry harassment. The section or the Act prescribes for issuance of non-bailable warrants, it is non-compoundable and is treated as a cognisable offence. It has been made compoundable only in Andhra Pradesh.

‘Tool for extortion’

SIFF now plans to approach the judiciary to influence the exercise of restrain in issuing judicial remand orders to the victims of Section 498 A without proper investigation.

Quoting statistics from Centre for Social Research, he said that 98 per cent of the cases booked under this section turned out to be false.

“The section, though promoted to protect women from dowry harassment, has now become a tool for extortion.

The fear of being arrested and humiliated plays on the psyche of Indian middle class and this factor is being exploited by the brides and their families, a few NGOs, the legal fraternity and the police,” said Mr. Agarwal.

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