Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:In a strongly-worded judgment on December 15, the Supreme Court highlighted the widespread prevalence of the evil practice of dowry despite legal prohibition on the same, reported Bar and Bench. A Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and N Kotiswar Singh said that although the law seeks to prohibit the practice, dowry has persisted in society cloaked as ‘gifts’ and social expectations.
It also remains linked to harassment, cruelty and deaths of women within marriage, it said.In view of the prevailing cases of dowry harassment and death, the Supreme Court issued directions to governments, courts and authorities to address awareness, enforcement and long-pending cases. The Court was hearing criminal appeals filed by the State of Uttar Pradesh in a dowry death case.
The appeals arose from the death of a 20-year-old woman who had been married for just over a year and was repeatedly subjected to demands for a colour television, a motorcycle and ₹15,000 in cash. The trial court had convicted her husband Ajmal Beg and his mother Jamila Beg under Sections 304B and 498A IPC and Sections 3 and 4 of the Dowry Prohibition Act. The Allahabad High Court, however, reversed the conviction in 2003. The top court set aside the acquittal of the two accused after noting that the High Court had misdirected itself in law and on facts.
