Go To Parliament, Says SC After Scrapping Plea Challenging Provisions Of Dowry Act

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging certain provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, alleging misuse of women-centric laws, according to reports.

“You can go and raise all these grounds in Parliament,” a bench of Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran told the counsel, appearing for the petitioner, reported the Hindustan Times.

According to reports, the petitioner’s counsel was seeking to challenge certain provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, including sections 2 and 3.

While section 2 of the Act deals with definition of dowry, section 3 pertains to penalty for giving or taking dowry.

The counsel argued that the petitioner was concerned about these laws, claiming that such provisions adversely impact men.

The public interest litigation (PIL) names laws like the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and the provision on cruelty to women in the erstwhile Indian Penal Code. The PIL also questioned their validity. The PIL submitted that the Dowry Prohibition Act was discriminatory on the grounds of religion as well.