The National Commission of Women’s
recommendations to extend the current 7-year window period for
registration of a dowry death case to lifetime have drawn widespread
reaction from various quarters of society. The commission said that
given the rise in the cases involving dowry, there is a need for more
stringent laws and more severe punishments.
Criminal cases under Section 498-A are registered on the charges of
dowry demand, while cases under Section 304-B are registered in the
cases involving dowry death. Both sections are said to have been
grossly abused in the recent past as innocent husbands along with their
family members have been locked up in jails under these laws.
In a scathing remark against the misuse of the dowry law the Delhi High
Court had recently remarked: “Section 498-A was being used to convert
failed marriages into a crime and people are using this as a tool to
extract as much monetary benefit as possible.”
Police officials and lawyers feel that a large majority of the dowry
related cases are bogus. The nature of dispute between the husband and
the wife is totally different, but invariably the wife and her parents
file a criminal case under section 498-A against the husband and his
family members for monetary benefits and to settle their scores.
Criticising the frequent abuse of the dowry related laws former Supreme
Court Bar Association Secretary Ashok Arora said: “There is a great
flaw in the implementation of the dowry related laws. Such cases should
be treated differently and due care should be taken so that the
innocent people are not put behind the bars. Our law making bodies know
that the dowry laws are one of the most abused laws in our country but
they have done little to tackle the menace emerging from them. Even the
Supreme Court has equated the misuse of dowry laws with ‘legal
terrorism’ and has asked the legislature to find new ways of reducing
the susceptibility of section 498-A to abuse, still the legislature has
done practically nothing about it.”
Successive governments at the center have not bothered to do away with
the draconian dowry laws for the fear of losing the ‘women vote bank’.
However, statistics speak very differently as a large number of women
too get implicated under these laws. When marriages break the wife
invariably levels dowry charges not only against her husband but his
mother too. Practicing lawyer Bhim Sen Gupta feels that when the
government introduced section 498-A some 25 years ago, it did not take
into consideration its far-reaching consequences. “Instead of providing
any remedy, the law has sown the seeds of ill will between the couples.
I would go to the extent of saying that the dowry laws have been
responsible for breaking a large number of families and depriving the
children from the love of both their parents. In my long career I have
seen many wives, incited and encouraged by the lawyers and police
officials, register false dowry related cases against their husbands
and his parents. Once this happens it leads to their arrest, which
seals off all route to compromise between the husband and the wife. But
for a momentary sadistic pleasure to see her husband and in-laws behind
the bars, does the wife gain anything out of it,” he remarked.
To give a chance to the estranged couple to come together, the Justice
Malimath Committee in 2003 recommended that Section 498-A be made
bailable and compoundable. This shall ensure that the husband and his
family members are not arrested until the charges against them are
proved. Besides there shall always be a scope of compromise between the
couple during the pendency of the trial. But the NCW has blatantly
ignored the recommendations made by Justice Malimath.
The commission has taken a ‘very unreasonable view’ by recommending
that the dowry laws be made more severe. Most surprisingly it has
remained totally silent about the blatant abuse of dowry laws, that
traumatises innocent men and women. It is interesting to observe that
every year 25000-30000 cases are filed under Section 498-A, but the
conviction rate under dowry charges is less than 2 percent.
Instances of men implicated under the dowry related cases committing
suicide are also rising at an alarming rate. According to the National
Crime Records Bureau, the ratio of male- female number of suicide in
India is 63:37. Surprisingly 44.7% of the victims are married males and
25% married females.
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