SC scraps district panels for dowry harassment cases

SEC 498A Supreme Court rolls back dilution of law, but says investigators should be trained to deal with such cases

NEWDELHI: A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Friday revised a 2017 judgment by a two-judge bench of the apex court that sought to prevent misuse of an anti-dowry law by forming a family welfare committee at the district level to look into complaints before arrests were made, and said the creation of such a panel is beyond the scope of the law.

The ruling puts the onus for the use and possible misuse of section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on law enforcement agencies.

The previous order, passed in the Rajesh Kumar vs Union of India case, was seen by some as diluting the law. The case itself was prompted by the premise that section 498A was sometimes In July, 2017, the top court said every district to have family welfare committees to first look at all dowry harassment allegations

It will only be on the basis of the committee’s report that an arrest will be made

In cases where a settlement is reached, it will be openp to the district and se essions judge to close the e case

being misused to settle scores.

Setting aside the direction to form a committee, the bench, headed by chief justice of India Dipak Misra, said on Friday that while the law was well-intentioned, investigating and law enforcement agencies were The fault lies with probe agencies, “which sometimes jump into action without application of mind”

Police must abide by previous orders, including one that suggests a preliminary enquiry could be held in matrimonial/ family disputes

All ppolice heads must ensure investigators are given rigorous training when it came to arrests

sometimes over zealous in its application: “The prescription of duties of the Committees and further action therefore, as we find, are beyond the Code and the same does not really flow from any provision of the Code.”