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MISUSE OF LAWS RELATED TO DOWRY LIGHTS OF LEGAL TERRORISM
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MISUSE OF LAWS RELATED TO DOWRY
LIGHTS OF LEGAL TERRORISM
AUTHORED BY
- LALHMUNMAWII
INTRODUCTION:
Laws are made with the objective of
providing justice for all. These laws include justice for all irrespective of
their caste, creed, colour or sex. Laws are created to govern the behaviour of
people in accordance with the norms of the society and to give justice to
victims and punished the accused.The Dowry laws was also enacted to prevent the
dowry system which is prevalent in Indian society which serves as injustice to
women. The Parliament of India has enacted the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 to
curb the problem of the dowry system in India. It has made the practice of
demanding, giving and receiving dowry illegal in India.
Since the dowry laws are a
reactionary law to the evil practice of dowry system in the society, with the
development of this Dowry law, there is a further challenge of it in the recent
times with the increase in the number of false claims that are being filed by
the wife for malicious reasons. This misuse of the Dowry law has led to
injustice in the society towards men getting caught in the criminal justice
system.
MEANING OF DOWRY:
Dowry is merely the exchange of
assets seen between the bride's and the groom's family.Contemporary
scholars offer a broad definition of dowry as comprising of monetary funds,
consumer goods, and jewellery that a wife brings along to her husband's
household. The term "dowry" has been informally described by
researchers as "property that can be moved or disposed of" given by
the bride's father or guardianship to the groom, his family, or his kin as a
prerequisite of the union, as well as "wealth, commodities, and
jewellery" presented by a woman to her husband's home.
LAWS RELATED TO DOWRY:
As per section 3 of the Dowry
Prohibition Act 1961, any individual after the initiation of the Act gives or
takes abets the giving or taking of dowry will be rebuffed with detainment for
a term at the very least five years and with a fine which will not be under
fifteen thousand rupees or how much the worth the dowry is or whatever is
higher. As demonstrated by section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, if any
individual clearly or indirectly demands dowry from the watchmen, relatives, or
guardians of the woman or the lucky man will be rebuked with a confinement of
basically a half year and which will contact two years and with fine which
could loosen up to 10,000 rupees.
Under Section 304 B of the Indian
Penal Code, if it can be proven that a woman was the victim of abuse or sexual
harassment by her partner or any position in relation to her husband for, or in
linkage with, any demand for bride price shortly prior to actually her dying,
such death will qualify as "dowry death," and such partner or family
members shall be punished.
According to the Section 498A,
cruelty is defined as "anyone, being the spouse or the relative of the
husband of a lady, submits such woman to cruelty shall be penalized with
detention for a duration which may extend to three years and will also be
required to pay a fine.
According to Section 113 B, the court
shall assume that the person in issue was responsible for the dowry death of
the woman if it can be proven that shortly before her death, the lady had been
exposed to “cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for
dowry.”The Evidence Act's Section 113-B mandates that the court assume that
such an individual had caused the dowry death, according to Section 113-B of
the Evidence Act. Any individual who has been proven to have exposed the dead
lady to cruelty or harassment in relation to dowry shortly before her death is
presumed to be guilty under S. 113-B.
Under the Criminal Procedure Code,
India considers the exchange and receipt of dowry to be crimes, and the
authorities and judge conduct criminal proceedings, including inquiries and
investigations, under sections 174 and 176 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,
1973.In accordance with the 1983 modification to the Act, if a death
occurs within 7 years after marriage or in any other dubious circumstances, the
cops must transfer the corpse for a post-mortem investigation. This clause also
grants the executive magistrate the authority to look into a girl's death in
these situations.
MISUSE OF DOWRY LAWS:
Dowry practice is where a woman
brings gifts, money or any valuable property with her when she gets
married.Dowry is the collective term for all the presents, funds, and assets a
lady brings to her husband’s home following their nuptials. The husband and his
family’s desire for dowry have evolved into something akin to a
prerequisite for marriage. The granting and receiving of bride price is
now forbidden in India according to the DPA, which was passed by the Indian
Parliament in 1961.Modern-day abuse of women is on the rise as a result of this
trend. The number of fabricated lawsuits that women are filing against their
spouses and in-laws for spiteful reasons is a new concern that has emerged
recently.
Below mentioned are some factors that
have been documented to lead to breaking up of families and the women been
vengeful towards their own husbands.
• The woman had the complete backing of
her family which prompted them to file more complaints against her marital
relatives and his kin that do not live with them.
• The major causes of marital
disagreement are when either the wife resists adjusting to her family or the
husband resists adjusting to his wife. The unwarranted intervention of the
woman's parentscan also cause problems in a marriage.
• The prevalent patriarchal system
adhered to the concept that a girl's rightful place is her
matrimonial residence which gives rise to desire to strengthen the
woman position so that they would have authority over their marital home.
• Industrial Revolution has laid the
foundations for the capitalist system and many advancement, which have further
accentuated the materialistic nature of both individual lives and societal
attitudes.
• In India, a marriage is considered as
a holy union built on the pillars of respect, confidence, conviction, and
trust. A partnership is likely to end whether these are violated since it is
extremely hard to acknowledge infidelity in a marital connection.
• Numerous fabricated allegations have
been made in an effort to coerce the accused into giving up a portion of their
assets.
• It is challenging for the charged
spouse and his household to obtain bail, and there aren't any opportunities to
reach a resolution with the complaint because of the nature of regulations.
OBSERVATION BY COURTS:
Arnesh Kumar v. State of Bihar is a
crucial case in criminal law where the court established rules for executing an
arrest. Domestic issues were the cause of the matter's backdrop when the woman
reported the spouse for allegedly seeking dowry.
History of the case
• The wife's claim against the
respondent (husband) was that her parents-in-law demanded Rs.8 lacs, a
Maruti Suzuki automobile, an AC, a TV set, etc, so she left her marriage.
• The respondent, who refuted these
accusations, submitted a request seeking anticipatory bail, which had been
initially denied by the Sessions Judge and then upheld by the High Court. His
effort to obtain anticipatory bail was unsuccessful, therefore he turned to the
Supreme Court through an SLP
Observations and judgment of the
court about the circumstance of arrest of the defendant:
• The defendant partner's permissive
and careless arrest in the dowry-related crimes was seen negatively. According
to the court, marriage problems have increased dramatically in recent years.
The IPC's Section 498-A was created with for the purpose of combating the
threat of harassment a woman could experience from her spouse and their loved
ones. The defendant was given conditional temporary bail by the court.
CONCLUSION:
The liberation of women from all
forms of oppression has always been the primary motivation behind campaigns to
criminalize the practice of paying dowries. Some married women in today's
society are manipulating, undermining, and humiliating other peaceful members
of the family, including the husband and his relatives, by utilizing concepts
that were previously developed with the intention of providing protection for
women as a weapon.
The protection of women was initially
the driving force for the creation of these guidelines and regulations. The
increase in the amount of unsubstantiated complaints about dowries is having a
detrimental effect on the intellectual development of the nation's younger
population.
The current social order encourages
the installation of equal measures for male in order to protect them from the
toxic environment that is generated by dowry laws. This is done in order to
insulate males from the harmful effects of dowry laws. The act of participating
in dishonest activity while bound by the provisions of a legal agreement is
garnering a growing amount of attention as a kind of legal extremism.
Article Information
MISUSE OF LAWS RELATED TO DOWRY LIGHTS OF LEGAL TERRORISM
Authors: LALHMUNMAWII
- Journal IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
- Published 2023/06/14
- Issue 7
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International Journal for Legal Research and Analysis
- Abbreviation IJLRA
- ISSN 2582-6433
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