The Supreme Court Monday rejected a plea challenging certain provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, invoking women-centric laws, as misuse. The petition filed by Rupshi Singh asked for questioning the provisions like Sections 2 and 3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961. Section 2 provides the definition and Section 3 the punishment regarding dowry. The petitioner claimed that these laws and others apply unfavourably to men too.
The plea was dismissed by a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran, advising the petitioner’s counsel to raise these issues in Parliament. The counsel for the petitioner said that the laws at issue were being misused and men were being targeted unfairly in cases where false complaints were made. The petition underscored the view of the petitioner that the petitioner’s act was practised in accordance with malice in law, as well as unreasonable provisions which, in the opinion of the petitioner, were not based on proper legal foundation.
The plea also called for protection in defence of men against potentially made-up accusations of a nature that women in general are using laws designed to protect them. It referred to public interest litigation (PIL) on the laws including the Dowry Prohibition Act which have been enacted for the protection of women and are being charged prematurely against men. It (the provision) provided, as the petitioner advanced, an imbalance in favour of women without sufficient safeguards against their misuse.
The dismissal of the petition by the Supreme Court simply stands the judiciary to its position, and if the concerns of the petitioner can not be addressed through the legislative means at the disposal of Parliament, then that cannot be done through the courts, so to speak.
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