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Dowry cases: panel for amending IPC section

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE NOV. 16. Reconciliation in a dowry harassment case is apparently a difficult task. A woman complainant, even if she has a change of mind, will have to watch the law take its course as the offence is non-bailable and non-compoundable.

All this can change, if a suggestion of the Committee on Reforms in the Criminal Justice System (CRCJS) to bring in the conciliatory provision is accepted by the Government.

When a wife files a complaint of harassment, the police initiate action for the offence under Section 498-A (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the Indian Penal Code. This lands the husband and his family behind bars, and consequently the husband may lose his job.

As the offence is non-bailable the chance of securing bail is slim.

The husband and members of his family have to undergo imprisonment, which may extend up to three years accompanied by fine, as it is also non-compoundable. There is no room for the couples to conciliate in the interest of the family.

This was seen in a trial of a case in Hubli. The wife, when the criminal proceedings were pending, conciliated with her husband. As she could not withdraw her complaint, she had to turn "hostile" in the criminal trial, by which the husband was acquitted by the Sessions Judge.

The committee has suggested amending Section 498-A making the offence bailable and compoundable.

According to Justice V.S. Malimath, the Chairman of the committee and former Chief Justice of Karnataka and Kerala High Courts, such a "pro-women" amendment will "unite a family".

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Justice Malimath said: "Imprisonment of the husband and his family for any short term will strain the relations, and this puts the wife and children at the crossroads devoid of any support. In a conservative society like ours, it is a tough task for a woman to run the family on her own. This (amendment) saves the process of adducing false evidence before the court, which is now being adopted for the purpose."

The committee in its report containing 158 recommendations, which was submitted to the Government recently, has suggested a leeway by which such conciliation will be a possibility.

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