In a significant ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court held that allegations of dowry "giving" made within a complaint cannot be used to prosecute the complainant or her family under the Dowry Prohibition Act. The bench of Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice K Vinod Chandran turned down a husband's request to initiate criminal proceedings against his wife and her relatives.
The husband contended that his wife's admission of having paid dowry in her complaint amounted to an acknowledgement of an offence under Section 3 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, which criminalises the act of giving dowry. However, the court refused to accept this argument as grounds for initiating proceedings against her.
The court relied on Section 7(3) of the law, which grants immunity to those who disclose dowry payments in the course of reporting harassment.
It ruled that "statements made by the wife and her family members, being the persons aggrieved, against the husband and his family with regard to the 'taking' of dowry cannot be the substratum for launching prosecution against the wife and her family members for the offence of 'giving dowry' under Section 3 of the DP Act."
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The case originated with the wife lodging an FIR against her husband and his family, alleging cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code along with violations of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.
The husband responded by filing a counter-complaint, accusing his wife and her relatives of "giving" dowry. He argued that their own statements amounted to an offence under Section 3 of the Act, despite his claim that no dowry had been accepted.
However, the Magistrate dismissed the plea and declined to order the registration of an FIR.
The court said "where independent evidence was presented with regard to the 'giving' of dowry and reliance was not placed only upon the complaint and statements made by the persons aggrieved, i.e., the wife and her family members, it would have been possible to register an FIR for the offence of 'giving' dowry under Section 3 of the DP Act as, in such a situation, the protection afforded to the 'persons aggrieved', under Section 7(3) of the DP Act, would not be available to them."
As per Section 7(3) of the Act, "Notwithstanding anything contained in any law for the time being in force a statement made by the person aggrieved by the offence shall not subject such person to a prosecution under this Act."
The court further observed that where the allegation of dowry "giving" emerges solely from the complaint or statements of the woman and her family, such individuals are entitled to statutory protection from prosecution.
"If in a given case all that is projected to establish the offence of 'giving' dowry under Section 3 of the DP Act is the complaint and/or the statements made by the wife and her family members, it would invariably mean that they, being the 'persons aggrieved', would be fully covered by the shield of immunity raised under Section 7(3) of the DP Act and would not be liable to be prosecuted on the strength thereof.", the court said.
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