New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Center to consider making necessary changes in Sections 85 and 86 of the Indian Judicial Code (BNS) to avoid misuse of it for filing false and exaggerated complaints. No. Section 85 of the Indian Judicial Code states, ‘If the husband or relative of the husband of a woman subjects that woman to cruelty, he will be punished with imprisonment for three years and may also have to pay a fine.’ The definition of ‘cruelty’ in Section 86 includes causing both mental and physical harm to the woman.
The top court said it had asked the Center to reconsider the anti-dowry law 14 years ago because the large number of complaints filed had exaggerated the phenomenon. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Mishra said it would look into Sections 85 and 86 of the Indian Judicial Code, 2023, respectively, to find out whether the legislature has seriously considered the court’s suggestion. BNS is to be implemented from July 1.
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The top court’s observation came while quashing a dowry-harassment case filed by a woman against her husband. According to the FIR lodged by the woman, the man and his family members allegedly demanded dowry and forced her to Caused mental and physical trauma.
The FIR states that the woman’s family had spent a huge amount at the time of her marriage and had also handed over their ‘Stridhan’ to the husband and his family, however, sometime after the marriage, the husband and his family took her away under false pretenses. Started harassing him. The bench said that a reading of the FIR and the charge sheet shows that the allegations made by the woman are very vague, general and broad, without any example of criminal conduct.
The top court directed the registry to send a copy each of this judgment to the Union Law and Home Secretaries, Central Government, who can place it before the Law and Justice Minister as well as the Home Minister.
Tags: Dowry, Supreme Court, women harassment
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 3, 2024, 22:07 IST