The Laws Prohibiting Dowry under Hindu Law

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The ancient marriage rites in the vedic period are associated with ‘Kanyadan’. It is laid down in Dharamshastara that the meritorious act of Kanyadan is not complete till the bridegroom was given a dakshina.
A bride is given over to the bridegroom, he has to be given something in cash or kind which constitute varadakshina.
Kanyadan became associated with varadakshina i.e., the cash or gifts in kind by the parents or guardian of the bride to the bridegroom.
The varadakshina was offered out of affection and did not constitute any kind of compulsion or consideration for the marriage. It was a voluntary practice without any coercive overtones.
The voluntary element in dowry has disappeared and the coercive element has crept in. It has taken deep roots not only in marriage ceremonies but also post-marital relationships. What was originally intended to be a taken dakshina for the bridegroom has now gone out of proportions and has assumed the nomenclature 'dowry'.

The social reformers who were from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have struggled very hard to abolish this system. This evilness in society was spreading filth and danger for the brides.
In a bid to eradicate this evil from society, the State Governments of Bihar and of Andhra Pradesh initiated ‘The Bihar Dowry Restraint Act, 1950’ and ‘The Andhra Pradesh Dowry Prohibition Act, 1958’ for their respective States, but both these enactments failed miserably.
On 24^th April 1959 the ‘Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1959’ was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The bill was referred to a ‘Joint Committee’ of both the ‘Houses of Parliament’.
Neither House of Parliament agreed with the amendments as reported by the Joint Committee and ultimately the bill was considered at the joint sittings of both the Houses of Parliament held on 6^th and 9^th May, 1961.

Indian law, enacted on May 1, 1961, intended to prevent the giving or receiving of a dowry.
In this act, dowry means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly.
The original text of the ‘Dowry Prohibition Act’ was widely judged to be ineffective in curbing the practice of dowry.
Specific forms of violence against women continued to be linked to a failure to meet dowry demands. In 1984, it was changed to specify that presents given to a bride or a groom at the time of a wedding are allowed.
The law required, that a list be maintained describing each gift, its value, the identity of the person giving it, and the person’s relation to either party to the marriage.
The act and relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 were further amended to protect female victims of dowry-related violence.
- IPC was also modified in 1983 to establish specific crimes of dowry-related cruelty, dowry death, and abetment of suicide.
- These enactments punished violence against women by their husbands or their relatives when proof of dowry demands, or dowry harassment could be shown.
Another layer of legal protection was provided in 2005 under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

Giving and Taking Dowry:
- According to Section 3 of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, if any person after the commencement of the act gives or takes, abets the giving or taking of dowry shall be punished with an imprisonment for a term not less than five years and with fine which shall not be less than fifteen thousand rupees or the amount of the value of dowry, whichever is more.
Demanding Dowry:
- According to Section 4 of the act if any person directly or indirectly demands dowry from the parents, relatives or guardians of the bride or the bridegroom shall be punished with an imprisonment of not less than six months and which shall extend to two years and with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
Ban on Advertisement:
- According to Section 4-A, the advertisement in any newspaper, journal or through any other medium or a share in the property, business, money, etc. by any person in consideration for marriage shall be punished with an imprisonment which shall not be less than six months and which may extend to five years or with fine which may extend to fifteen thousand rupees.

Indian Penal Code, 1860

Section 304 B:
- Where the death of a woman is caused by any burns or bodily injury or occurs otherwise than under normal circumstances within seven years of her marriage and it is shown that soon before her death she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by her husband or any relative of her husband for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, such death shall be called ‘dowry death’ and such husband or relatives shall be deemed to have caused her death.
- Whoever commits dowry death shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than seven years, but which may extend to imprisonment for life.
Husband or relative of husband subjecting women to cruelty (section 498-A):
- Whoever, being the husband or the relatives of the husband of a woman, subject such woman to cruelty shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years and shall also be liable to fine.

Presumption as to dowry death (Section 113 B): When the question is whether a person has committed dowry death of a woman and it is shown that soon before her death such woman had been subjected by such person to cruelty or harassment for, or in connection with, any demand for dowry, the court shall presume that such person had caused the dowry death.

Bhoora Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh (1991):
- The Allahabad High Court held that the deceased had before being set on fire by her in-laws written a letter to her father that she was being ill-treated, harassed and threatened with dire consequences for non-satisfaction of demand of dowry. Thus, an offence of demanding dowry under Section 4 of Dowry Prohibition Act 1961 had been committed.
State of Andhra Pradesh v. Ram Gopal Asawa & Another (2004):
- In this case Supreme Court held that there must be proximate and live link between the effects of cruelty based on dowry demand and the concerned death.