SAVE FAMILY FOUNDATION (Regd) (Promoting family & marital harmony) Date: 14th March 2015 To, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Hon’ble Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping, Delhi, New Delhi, India SUBJECT: Request to make IPC 498A (Dowry Law) as Bailable and NOT compoundable Respected Sir, Save Family Foundation is part of the Save Indian Family Movement which has been working on the social cause of promoting family and marital harmony since 2005. The movement is 40+ NGOs strong which are non-funded, non-profit and absolutely non-commercial. The movement has helped over 20 crores Indians in past 11 years by providing community help to them. The movement focuses primarily on Men Suicide in India because of distress caused by Misuse of various Gender Based Laws. SIF runs a nationwide helpline for Men which receives over 130 calls per day. Almost all respected Courts of India, including the Hon’ble Supreme Court, over the years have raised concerns over the gross misuse of the Anti Dowry Law, i.e. IPC 498A in India, even equating it to ‘Legal Terrorism’. While attributing such a term for a law misuse, the Hon’ble Supreme Court has not minced words in sharing it’s growing concern of the way this law is being used and infact has directed in various judgments to do amendments in this law. Owing to similar directions, Government of India was kind enough to get various committee reports on the amendments which can be done to this law.

Page

We wish to submit that making IPC 498A compoundable will have more negative effects as: 1. This will pass the control of filing & withdrawing of this draconian law in hands of wife only. 2. Courts would get more overloaded with cases as then wives can file it on their whims and fancies. 3. A case which is easier to withdraw will be used as a bigger extortion tool by wives. 4. There is no empirical data to prove that compoundability will decrease misuse. 5. Infact, Andhra Pradesh is a ready example of how compoundability increases the cases and fakecases as well. 2001-2011, total of 1,73,180 cases of IPC 498A were registered nationwide in 2001, the figure touched a humongous 3,57,347 in 2010 which was an increase of 106.34%. Meanwhile in the same period, Andhra Pradesh which had 11,423 cases in 2001 jumped an unimaginable 151.95% to 28,780 cases. Conviction rate in Andhra Pradesh has dropped from 20.5% in 2001 to 12.1% in 2011 (over 8% drop) while National average went to 22.2% in 2001 to 20.2% in 2011 (2% drop). Meaning for Andhra Pradesh, cases increased 150% while conviction rate fell by 400% as compared to National average. DID MAKING IPC 498A COMPOUNDABLE HELP?

1

Justice Malimath committee’s report demanded that this law must be made bailable and compoundable. Stress is on the sequence of amendments, to start with being bailable. Unfortunately, we are understand that the Government of India is looking at making this law compoundable.

Correspondence address: F59 , Azad Apartment, IP Extension, New Delhi -110092 Help-Line: 9811004578, 9818509406, 9958987919, 9910074914 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.savefamily.in www.saveindianfamily.in

SAVE FAMILY FOUNDATION (Regd) (Promoting family & marital harmony) Section 16.4.4 of Justice Malimath Committee report states “In less tolerant impulsive woman may lodge an FIR even on a trivial act. The result is that the husband and his family may be immediately arrested and there may be a suspension or loss of job. The offence alleged being non-bailable, innocent persons languish in custody.” Infact, keeping IPC 498A as non-bailable over burdens just not the Hon’ble Sessions courts but also the Appellate Courts like Hon’ble High Courts and Hon’ble Supreme Court. And bail matters, being urgent matters, occupy most of the time of all Criminal and Appellate courts of India, thus making the Justice system delayed for various other cases. It is clearly observed that in most of the cases where some material is available prima-facie of real case of IPC 498A, there are other sections of IPC (which are non-bailable) are added thus making any matrimonial case as a Criminal trial and procedures thus keeping IPC 498A as non-bailable is virtually solving no problem. Looking at the arrest figures, this law in 2013 itself, 2,22,091 people were arrested (6.3% of total arrests in India) with an increase of 12.3% over 2012. Of these, 47,471 were women themselves arrested and over 9000 Children and 60+ years old people were arrested. In starting of 2013, Indian Jails had close to 10 Lakh people Arrested u/s IPC 498A of which only 17,542 i.e. less than 2% were convicted while rest still were in Jail or acquitted or pending trial in a single year. Of total people arrested under cognizable crimes in 2013, 5.5% were under IPC 498A. Making IPC 498A bailable, will release Police (thus tax payer) of atleast 5.5% reduction of Jail expenses, atleast 20% reduction of Court Burden for Bail proceedings and would allow atleast 10 lakh Indian each year to contribute to the GDP of this country. Owing to above facts and data (from National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs), we hereby wish to prey: 1. IPC 498A must be made bailable to stop it’s misuse. 2. IPC 498A must left as compoundable to allow justice trial stop Legal Extortion. Thanking you, Yours faithfully,

Page

2

Ritwik Bisaria (PR Manager) 9910074914

Correspondence address: F59 , Azad Apartment, IP Extension, New Delhi -110092 Help-Line: 9811004578, 9818509406, 9958987919, 9910074914 Email: [email protected] Web site: www.savefamily.in www.saveindianfamily.in