No immediate arrests in dowry cases, prelim probe needed, says SC

The mandatory arrests following complaints of dowry harassment have now been ruled out by the Supreme Court. Alleging misuse of the anti-dowry harassment law by disgruntled wives, the apex court on Thursday said that arrests can be made only after a preliminary investigation is made into the accusation.

An NDTV report said that the bench of Justice AK Goel and UU Lalit said that the law was enacted to



"punish cruelty at the hands of husband or his relatives - particularly when such cruelty drives the wife to suicide".

The bench recommended setting up of family welfare committees to which the dowry harassment complaint will be recommended. The panel would then inspect the case and submit a report to the local magistrate after which the decision to whether make arrests or no will be taken.