New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a pilot that sought appointment of an expert committee to review the existing dowry and domestic violence laws and prevent their misuse.
A bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma observed that the society has to change and it cannot do nothing. Justice Nagarathna said, “Society must change, we cannot do anything. There are parliamentary laws.”
The plea was filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari seeking to reform domestic violence laws and prevent their misuse in the wake of the recent suicide of Bengaluru techie Atul Subhash.
The petition sought guidelines to prevent misuse of such laws. The plea also sought direction to the government to record a list of articles/gifts/money given during the marriage and maintain it along with the affidavit and the record of the same shall be maintained and attached with the marriage registration certificate.
“The Dowry Prohibition Act and Section 498A of the IPC were meant to protect married women from dowry demands and harassment, but in our country, these laws become weapons to settle unnecessary and illegal demands and when disputes arise. If any other nature of conflict arises between the husband and wife, the petitioner said, to suppress the husband’s family.
The petitioner said that many incidents and cases of false implication of men in dowry cases have come to light, which have led to very tragic ends and have also raised questions on our justice and criminal investigation system.
He further said that it is not only about one Atul Subhash, but the number of men who have committed suicide because of the multiple affairs showered on them by their wives.
“The gross misuse of dowry laws has defeated the purpose of these laws for which they were enacted,” he said.
(TagstoTranslate) Dowry Law (T) Supreme Court (T) Domestic Violence Law
