Amendments to Dowry Act to plug loopholes
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COMMENTS 
New amendments to the Dowry Prohibition Act, suggested by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, include maintaining a notorised list of wedding gifts, reduced penalties for dowry-givers and linking the Dowry Act to the Domestic Violence Act
The Ministry of Women and Child Development has moved a Cabinet note seeking amendments in the existing provisions of the Dowry Protection Act, 1961.
The amendments include:
- Mandatory requirement for couples to notify the list of gifts exchanged during the wedding ceremony. The list of gifts, in the form of a sworn affidavit, has to be notarised, signed by a protection officer or a dowry prohibition officer and kept by both parties. Failure to keep the list of gifts could invite heavy penalties including a three-year jail term not only for the bride and groom but also their parents.
- The penalty for dowry-givers reduced from five years’ imprisonment to one year.
- The Domestic Violence Act linked to the Dowry Prohibition Act, for quick relief.
- The definition of ‘dowry’ widened by changing the words ‘in connection with marriage’ to ‘given before the marriage, at the time of marriage and at any time after the marriage’.
- In case of a woman’s death, all property obtained as dowry goes back to the parents of the woman or her children.
Under the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, genuine presents offered to the bride or to the bridegroom at the time of marriage are not prohibited, provided the value of the gifts is not excessive compared to the financial status of the parties giving the presents. The Dowry Prohibition (Maintenance of List of Presents to the Bride and Bridegroom) Rules, 1985 already requires a list to be maintained; the current amendment makes it more legal by requiring a sworn affidavit that’s duly notarised.
Senior Supreme Court advocate K T S Tulsi called the amendments a positive step. “Mandatory registration of lists would not only facilitate having proof but also eliminate the possibility of abuse of law by making false allegations,” he said.
The amendments are expected to be placed before Cabinet for its approval this month and are likely to be tabled in Parliament in the coming budget session.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), in 2005 around 3,204 cases were registered under the Dowry Prohibition Act, compared to 3,592 cases in 2004. Dowry disputes continue to be the cause of death of many women. NCRB data shows 2,276 female suicides due to dowry disputes reported in 2006, that is, six a day on average; the figure was 2,305 in 2005. In 2004, at least 2,585 such cases were registered across the country.
Between 2004 and 2007, complaints of dowry harassment constituted the bulk of complaints received by the National Commission for Women (NCW). A substantial increase in dowry harassment cases has been observed with each passing year; a fairly large number of cases report police apathy.
The Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 was amended after a long and protracted struggle by women’s organisations. New sections on cruelty and dowry-related murder were inserted into the Indian Penal Code (IPC) in 1983, with the definition of cruelty widened to include not only harassment relating to dowry but other kinds of domestic violence as well. With the passage of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, women’s organisations have seen more and more women come forward to register complaints of violence and abuse.
Source: PTI, January 18, 2010
The Indian Express, January 18, 2010
DNA, January 15, 2010