India’s apex court, the Supreme Court of India, on Monday, February 3, dismissed a plea challenging some provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act over an alleged misuse of women-centric laws, reported the news agency PTI.
A judicial bench of Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran ruled on this appeal on Monday.
“You can go and raise all these grounds in Parliament,” the bench told the counsel appearing for the petitioner, according to the agency report.
The report also said that the petitioner was seeking to challenge certain provisions of India‘s Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, including sections 2 and 3. Section two of the act deals with the definition of dowry, and the third section deals with the penalty for giving or receiving dowry.
According to the agency report, the petitioner was concerned about these laws adversely impacting men as per the Act.
Laws like the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and the provision on cruelty to women come under the former Indian Penal Code to question their validity as per the public interest litigation (PIL), reported the news agency.
Rupshi Singh, the petitioner, filed the plea, which highlighted the alleged malice in law, the unreasonableness of the impugned provisions, and the lack of semblance of law in them, as per the report.
The news report highlighted that the petitioner was seeking the protection of men against the atrocities committed by women filing false complaints. Women tend to abuse the very laws that were meant to protect them from harm.
As per the PIL submitted, the Dowry Prohibition Act was discriminatory on the terms of religion and also further assailed the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, as they are claimed to be women-centric and discriminatory against men, reported the news agency.
