SC restores police power in dowry harassment cases
New Delhi, Sep 14: The Supreme Court on Friday restored the police power to act on complaints of dowry harassment under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud struck down its earlier verdict that family welfare committees scrutinise dowry harassment complaints and submit their reports before police acts on the same.
It held that setting up of family welfare committees and powers conferred on these was "impermissible".
"There are statutory provisions and judgments in the field and, therefore, directions pertaining to constitution of a committee and conferment of power on the said committee is erroneous," Chief Justice Misra said while speaking for the bench.
Restoring police power to arrest, the court however said that police will act with caution in these cases. "We think it appropriate to direct the Investigating Officer to be careful in dealing with the complaints of dowry harassment."
Referring to its earlier judgments, the court said that arrests in cases where offence of dowry harassment attracts punishment of imprisonment of seven years or less, the Investigating Officer will affect arrests only on satisfaction that such persons had committed the offence.
He has to be further satisfied that the arrest is necessary to prevent such persons from committing further offence, including disappearance of or tampering with evidence or requirement of further investigation.
The court had, by its July 27, 2017 order, said that District Legal Service Authorities would constitute the family welfare committees.
The court directed state Director Generals of Police to ensure that Investigating Officers probing the offences under Section 498A were imparted rigorous training with regard to principles stated by the top court in its earlier judgments relating to arrests made in such cases.
Modifying one of the directions issued on July 27, 2017, the court said on Friday: "If a settlement is arrived at, the parties can approach the High Court under Section 482 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the High Court... shall dispose of the same."
The apex court did not find any infirmity with said direction which said that "if a bail application is filed with at least one clear day's notice to the Public Prosecutor/complainant, the same may be decided as far as possible on the same day. Recovery of disputed dowry items may not by itself be a ground for denial of bail if maintenance or other rights of wife/minor children can otherwise be protected."
"Needless to say that in dealing with bail matters, individual roles, prima facie truth of the allegations, requirement of further arrest/custody and interest of justice must be carefully weighed."
The court also did not find any fault with the July 2017 direction that "in respect of persons ordinarily residing out of India, impounding of passports or issuance of Red Corner Notice should not be a routine."
The court's Friday verdict came as errors were found in some of the directions issued by a bench of the top court in its July 27, 2017, judgment that held the "potential to enter into the legislative field", while interpreting a statutory provision.
The core issue is whether the court could, by the method of interpretation, have issued such directions, including setting up of the family welfare committees by the District Legal Services Authorities and conferred powers on them to scrutinise complaints of dowry harassment before police could act on them.
Disagreeing with the court direction on setting up of the committees for scrutinising complaints, the court said: "The legislature, in its wisdom, has made the offence under Section 498A of the IPC cognizable and non-bailable. The fault lies with the investigating agency which sometimes jumps into action without application of mind."
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Maharashtra sets up state vaccination task force to strengthen immunisation programme
Mumbai (PTI): The Maharashtra government has set up a State Vaccination Task Force to strengthen the regular immunisation programme and review the progress of related campaigns, a health department official said on Monday.
The State Vaccination Task Force will comprise at least 29 members and will be headed by the administrative head of the health department, he informed.
The government has also constituted separate district-level and municipal vaccination task forces to improve implementation and address challenges at the grassroots level, he said.
Municipal task forces, chaired by respective civic commissioners, have been constituted in view of the vast urban population in Maharashtra and the role of civic bodies in implementing different health programmes.
The district-level task forces will function under the chairmanship of collectors.
"Complete immunisation of children at the appropriate age is an extremely simple, cost-effective and highly effective measure to reduce child mortality and the prevalence of diseases among kids. Immunisation is a powerful tool for reducing illness in children," maintained the official.
To ensure full vaccination of all children, the state government implements various campaigns from time to time as per the central government guidelines, he pointed out.
"Active participation and cooperation of other relevant government departments are essential (in making these campaigns successful)," according to the official.
The state-level body will review the regular immunisation programme, associated campaigns and vaccine-preventable diseases in detail. It will also conduct focused assessments of high-risk districts and municipal corporations, including vacancies at district, municipal and sub-district levels, availability of cold chain equipment, resource gaps and training requirements, he noted.
The state task force will review allocation and utilisation of funds for immunisation and ensure timely action by officers concerned based on reports from district and municipal task forces and state-level monitoring mechanisms, the official said.
It will also ensure active coordination and participation of other government departments in immunisation drives, while district and municipal task forces will carry out similar functions at their respective levels, the official added.
