The State government will have to inform the Bombay High Court regarding the appointment of dowry prohibition officers, their qualification levels where appointments have been made, and whether there are measures in place to regulate marriage bureaus.
A Division Bench of Justice VM Kanade and Justice R Mohite Dere was hearing a Public Interest Litigation seeking regulation of marriage bureaus and matrimonial websites, the implementation of dowry-related legislation and enquiry into the business of bureaus and such services.
The State will also have to inform the court whether it has framed rules under the Dowry Prohibition Act and the Maharashtra Registration of Marriage Bureaus and Regulation of Marriages Act to implement these legislations.
“The regulator has the right to refuse registration,” the Bench said. “But we want to see whether it is being done. How many bureaus have been registered so far?”
Petitioner Priscilla Samuel argued that the government had ‘turned a blind eye’ to dowry-related irregularities and that websites were in some cases actively abetting the payment of dowry.
M Adenwalla, appearing for the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, said Maharashtra had recorded 39 FIRs related to dowry harassment of the 10,050 cases recorded nationwide according to national crime data. She further argued that though the State said it had appointed police officers as dowry prohibition officers, this was hardly adequate. “How are they going to create social awareness?” she asked. “We need full-time dowry prohibition officers,” she said.
The matter will next be heard after two weeks.
The writer is a freelance journalist
