Uttar Pradesh urges Centre to make Section 498A of IPC a bailable offence

Posted on: 11 Nov 2011 on jagran

Make 498A of IPC bailable: UP to Centre

Lucknow: In a bid check the misuse of the Section 498-A of Indian Penal Code (IPC) that came into force against accused in dowry cases and to save women from domestic violence, the Uttar Pradesh government has urged the Centre to amend this Section to make it a bailable offence.

Citing misuse of 498-A (Husband or Relative of Husband of a women subjecting her to cruelty) by unscrupulous women to extort money and to harass husband’s entire family, the state government has written a letter to the Central government seeking amendment.

Under 498 A, whoever, being the husband or the relative of the husband of a woman, subjects such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

The matter was brought into light by Allahabad High Court during the hearing of a petition filed by Sanjeev Kumar. The High Court directed the state government to put forth its views on the misuse of 498-A.

Acting on the directives, state administration took review of dowry deaths and domestic violence in the state. It was found that from 2007-2010, more than 5500 cases of dowry deaths and 20,000 cases of domestic violence were registered.

In majority of the cases, kin of the victim filed an FIR against the husband and his family under 498-A of IPC as of which elderly, pregnant women and even juveniles were declared guilty. It was also found that in many cases allegations imposed by the victim and her family was totally wrong as there was no proof of any kind of physical assault. However, the husband and his family had to be put behind the bars in compliance with the rule.

http://post.jagran.com/uttar-pradesh-urges-centre-to-make-section-498a-of-ipc-a-bailable-offence-1321002676

Is the Apex court legalising DOWRY giving !

 

A woman and her family members cannot be treated as accused under the Dowry Prohibition Act for giving dowry at the time of marriage, the Supreme Court has said. A bench of Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad upheld the Delhi High Court verdict that quashed a criminal case against a girl stating a dowry harassment victim was protected under the law and, could not be charged under the Act.

Two separate benches of the Delhi HC had taken divergent views on the issue. While Justice SN Dhingra (since retd) held the woman and her family could be prosecuted for giving dowry, Justice Ajit Bharihoke had said it could not be done.

The latter judgment held that section 7 of the Dowry Prohibition Act provided protection to the person who was a complainant under the law. Section 3 of the Act makes giving, accepting or abetting dowry an offence.

The SC order clarifies the legal position regarding the culpability of an alleged dowry-giver bride. It dismissed the appeal against Justice Bharihoke’s verdict filed by the husband who claimed that the judge could not have delivered it as the law was settled by Justice Dhingra.

The bench, however, dismissed the petition and said, “The girl is a victim and you want her to be prosecuted also. Then 498A (dowry harassment section) would be rendered nugatory.”

Vijary Aggarwal counsel for the woman who faced the case for giving dowry, contended there should be harmonious construction of the Act.

Justice Bharihoke had in October 2010 quashed a metropolitan magistrate’s order that directed registration of a case under the Act against a woman. The case was registered following a complaint made before the court by the husband.

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Full text of SC order

ITEM NO.14 COURT NO.7 SECTION II
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (Crl) No(s).1339-1340/2011
(From the judgement and order dated 20/10/2010 in WP No.
501/2010 & CRLMA No. 3921/2010 of The HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT N.
DELHI)
SAMEER SAXENA Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
STATE OF NCT OF DELHI & ANR Respondent(s)
(With appln(s) for exemption from filing c/c of the impugned
Judgment)
Date: 07/03/2011 These Petitions were called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE HARJIT SINGH BEDI
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE CHANDRAMAULI KR. PRASAD
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Gagan Preet Singh, Adv.
Mr. Karan Bir singh, Adv.
Mr. Rameshwar Prasad Goyal, Adv.
For Respondent(s) Mr. Vijay Aggarwal, Adv.
Mr. Rajnish Kumar singh, Adv.
Mr. Tanmay Mehta, Adv.
Ms. Manjusha Wadhwa, Adv.
UPON hearing counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R

Heard the learned counsel for the parties.
We see no reason to interfere in the Special
Leave Petitions which are, accordingly,
dismissed.

(KALYANI GUPTA) (VINOD KULVI)
SR. P.A. COURT MASTER

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Cases against women

Delhi police issues circular in 2007 asking its officers to register cases under the Dowry Act against women who marry despite dowry demand

Mar 19, 2010: Delhi court orders case against a woman saying she had willfully given dowry

Dec 4, 2008: Noida court orders case against woman.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Relief-for-women-in-dowry-cases/Article1-671472.aspx

All new FIRs in Delhi to be available online from Feb 1

All new FIRs in Delhi to be available online from Feb 1

Thu Jan 27 2011

Policemen in Delhi denying anyone a copy of First Information Reports (FIRs) will be a thing of the past.

From February one, people can download new FIRs registered in the capital from Delhi Police's official website -- www.delhipolice.nic.in. An accused can get a copy from the police station by paying Rs 25.

The move comes following a direction by the Delhi High Court on December six last year when it said that an accused is entitled to get a copy of the FIR within 24 hours of its registration and police cannot deny supplying it.

The court had said that the FIRs should be uploaded online within 24 hours of its registration though it exempted the force from making public FIRs on sensitive issues.

However, whenever it does not make FIRs public, such a decision has to be taken by an officer not below the rank of Deputy Commissioner of Police and they have to inform the area magistrates.

 

"We will be uploading the FIRs from February one. The FIRs will be uploaded from police stations and software has been installed," Rajan Bhagat, Delhi Police spokesperson, said.

All the police stations have been instructed to upload all FIRs registered.

According to the official, an accused can apply for the copy of an FIR at a charge of Rs 25 for four pages and an extra Rs ten for each extra page.

"The accused can approach the police station in person or depute another person or his lawyer to collect the FIR registered against him," Bhagat said.

The FIRs on sensitive issues like terrorism, national security, rape, molestation and kidnapping for ransom will not be uploaded, he said.

The application forms for procuring the FIRs will be available at all police stations and Deputy Commissioners' office, he said.

The High Court had observed that fair and impartial investigation is the fundamental right of an accused and he or she need not move to court in order for getting a copy of FIR and it is the duty of the police to provide it.

An accused is entitled to get a copy of the FIR at an earlier stage than as prescribed under Section 207 of the CrPC which says that accused has to move the court and it would be supplied by order of Magistrate, the High Court had said.

In case if police refuse to reveal the FIR, then the person can approach the Police Commissioner, who will form a committee to decide such cases.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/all-new-firs-in-delhi-to-be-available-online-from-feb-1/742724/2

Put all new FIRs online: Delhi HC

Put all new FIRs online: Delhi HC

7th Dec 2010

NEW DELHI: In a major move towards transparency in police functioning, the high court has directed the Delhi Police to start uploading all First Information Reports (FIRs) registered in the city onto its website within 24 hours of filing. The police are required to implement the order from February 1, 2011.

The landmark order, passed by a division bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Manmohan, said it's the duty of the police to provide information and the accused does not need to move court to get a copy of an FIR.

"Fair and impartial investigation is a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution and presumption as regards the innocence of an accused is a right. Therefore, a person booked under criminal law has a right to know the nature of allegations so that he can take necessary steps to safeguard his liberty," the bench said.

Earlier, additional solicitor general A S Chandiok and amicus curie Arvind Nigam submitted their suggestions on the matter.
The counsel had said that recording of an FIR was an official act of a public official in discharge of his or her official duties and, therefore, it was a public document within the meaning of Section 74 of the Evidence Act, 1872.

The court said an accused was entitled to get a copy of the FIR earlier than what's prescribed under Section 207 of the Criminal Procedure Code (which says the FIR would be supplied through a magistrate's order after the accused moves court).

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Put-all-new-FIRs-online-Delhi-HC-/articleshow/7056292.cms#ixzz17Nmc2yYg

Delay in FIR not a ground for rejecting prosecution evidence

Delay in FIR not a ground for rejecting prosecution evidence

PTI | 05:10 PM,Oct 12,2010

New Delhi, Oct 12 (PTI) Delay in lodging of FIR and discrepancies in eyewitness accounts cannot be a ground for discarding the prosecution's evidence, the Supreme Court has ruled.The apex court said that such discrepancies were bound to occur particularly in rural areas due to the distance between the village and the police station; and memory of a person also fades away with the passage of time.

Ram Naresh shot at and seriously wounded the victim Shiv Vilas on August 11, 1978 due to previous enmity. The sessions court imposed a five-year sentence on the accused by relying on the eyewitness account of Ram Vilas and Lalu. The Allahabad High Court upheld the sentence."We also find no reason to disregard the evidence of Ram Vilas and Lalu (witnesses). Admittedly, Ram Vilas was a brother of Shiv Vilas, the injured and Lalu was a close relative and also a party man."It must also be borne in mind that the incident happened in the year 1978 and the evidence was recorded in 1986.

Some discrepancies are therefore bound to appear in the ocular evidence as memory fades with the passage of time," a Bench of Justices H S Bedi and C K Prasad said in an order.The apex court passed the ruling while dismissing the appeal filed by Naresh challenging his conviction in an attempt to murder case in Uttar Pradesh about 32 years ago.Ram Vilas had lodged the FIR only the next day as the police station was at a distance of nine kilometres.The accused took the plea in the apex court that there was a considerable delay in the registration of FIR and there was certain material differences in the account given by the eyewitness.Rejecting the argument, the apex court said, "We find from a reading of the evidence that there is no substantial delay in the lodging of the FIR.

The incident happened in a village about 9 kms away from the police station late in the evening and it would have been difficult for the complainant living in a rustic and backward area to rush to the police station immediately,"the Bench observed.However, the Bench said that since the incident had occurred 32 years ago, it was reducing the sentence from five years to three years and directed that the accused be taken into custody forthwith to serve his remaining period of the sentence.

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/delay-in-fir-not-a-ground-for-rejecting-prosecution-evidence/404691.html