The Supreme Court on Monday said that dowry is a social evil and there is no doubt about it, but changes must come from within the society in how a woman is treated and how people treat a woman who comes in the family. The top court referred the petition on the issue to the Law Commission and observed that the jurisdiction of this court is restricted under Article 32 of the Constitution, which essentially requires legislative reforms.
Disposing of the PIL, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said, “Discussions can be initiated on the subject to consider measures supporting the existing law.” It is in this background that we are of the view that it may be appropriate if the Law Commission India Considers this issue in all its perspectives. The petitioners are at liberty to research and submit a note on all relevant aspects for the benefit of the Law Commission.
The bench further said, “Reform in the law is a necessity but changes have to come from within the society that how we treat a woman, how the society treats a woman, who comes into the family, how a woman’s social life.” develops. , It deals with the social core value of marriage as an institution. It is about a social change that reformers have written about and are still doing.
The bench said that there is no doubt that dowry is a social evil but the prayer made in the petition to designate dowry prohibition officers as was done in the case of Right to Information Act, this court cannot do so. . The RTI officer has been nominated under a central law. The second prayer is to ask for instructions to keep the jewelery and other assets given during the marriage in the name of the women for at least seven years. It is a valid prayer and the legislature will consider it very seriously, the bench told advocate VK Biju, appearing for petitioner Sabu Sebastian and others.
It said that the prayer made in the petition is about constitution of curricular commissions for a proper pre-marriage course, consisting of legal experts, academicians and psychologists, so that the couple can take pre-marriage counseling before entering into marriage. and make this course compulsory. for marriage. You should be aware that there are some communities in the country who practice this system of counseling. The bench said that you can give all these suggestions to the law commissions so that they can make appropriate recommendations to the government to strengthen the law.
Biju argued that a similar case is pending before another court and this case can also be clubbed with it as he is troubled by the recent incidents in Kerala where so much jewelery and gold is being given away during weddings.
The children of the poor and daily wage laborers would suffer if this practice was not stopped, he said, adding that a police officer was recently suspended for not taking action in a doctor’s dowry case and hence the court The course may issue notice on the third request of the commission. The bench said, the third prayer is the most difficult. The whole of India does not live in Kochi in Kerala or any other city in Delhi or Kolkata but in villages. You will not find experts in villages for these commissions, and you will have to go to cities for pre-marriage courses. This will have dire consequences, as a helpless woman from a village marriage will not be registered, just because she has not taken the course.”
The top court said all these matters are under the notice of the legislature and only it can amend the existing laws to give them more powers like was done in the case of the SC/ST Act.
Justice Bopanna said nothing will emerge from the notice and the Law Commission can look into the suggestions and make appropriate recommendations to the government to strengthen the law. We are telling you which one is the better option. It is important to create awareness to sensitize people about these issues. You will be wasting time in courts after the notice is issued, Justice Bopanna said, adding that recourse to the Law Commission will at least speed up the process of reforms.
The bench, in its order, invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 32 of the Constitution, saying that the first and second petitioners – who are social workers – and the third petitioners, who are advocates practicing before the Supreme Court, made certain demands. is of. Concrete instructions to stop the social evil of dowry. It said that the petition states that the Parliament has stepped in by invoking penal provisions such as Section 304B and Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code 1860, Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 and the National Commission for Women, but it is in widespread practice. Social evil needs a new form to make the law more robust.
The bench said that during the course of the hearing, the court has indicated that the relief sought in the above conditions pertains to the purview of legislative policy.
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