Sunday, Jan 12, 2003
Sunday, Jan 12, 2003 |
| National | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | National
By J. Venkatesan
A Bench comprising Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice H.K. Sema said the practice of giving and demanding dowry was a social evil, having a deleterious effect on the entire civil society and had to be condemned by the strong hands of the judiciary. The Bench noted that despite amendments in the Dowry Prohibition Act providing for deterrent punishment with a view to curbing the increasing menace of dowry deaths, the evil practice continued unabated. It said the court could not be oblivious to the intendment of the legislature and to the purpose for which the enactment of the law and amendment had been effected. The Bench made it clear that every court must be sensitised to the enactment of the law and the purpose for which it was made, keeping in view the evil practice of dowry. Courts must give a meaningful interpretation of the law so as to advance the cause of interest of the society as a whole. "No leniency is warranted to the perpetrator of the crime against the society," the Bench said and set aside the judgment of the Karnataka High Court quashing the Sessions Court's order awarding life imprisonment to a man, M.V. Manjunatha Gowde, who had caused the death of his wife within a few months of marriage. The Bench awarded 10 years' rigorous imprisonment to Manjunatha Gowde, who was asked to surrender before the court concerned to serve the sentence. If he did not surrender, the Sessions Judge, Chikmagalur, shall take necessary steps in accordance with the law to apprehend the accused. The Bench observed: "When a woman enters into wedlock, she has many salutary expectations. She would expect a happy conjugal life, she would then expect to be a mother one day, then she would expect to be mother-in-law and grandmother and so on. All these expectations are shattered by the cruel hands of a dowry-related death''. Referring to the finding of the High Court that it was not a dowry-related death, the Bench said such a finding was clearly perverse and against the weight of evidence on record.
Printer friendly
page
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2003, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|
