The dowry deaths law: Law interpreted too literally, and Class 12 boards were cancelled. What now?
Policy, Education
The dowry deaths law: Law interpreted too literally
A literal interpretation of the penal provision on dowry death may have blunted the battle against the “long-standing social evil”, according to the CJI.
Let's look at how the current dowry law has been misinterpreted by courts, and what the new judgment indicates.
TD;LR
Section 304-B of the Indian Penal Code lays down the law against dowry deaths. According to the CJI, this law has been taken too literally by the courts, leading to a narrow interpretation and questionable judgments.
The new judgment includes a wider interpretation of the law and directions on fairer examination of the accused.
What does the provision currently say?
To make a case of dowry death, a woman should have died of burns, other bodily injuries, or “otherwise than under normal circumstances” within seven years of her marriage. She should have suffered cruelty or harassment from her husband or in-laws “soon before her death” in connection with the demand for dowry.
How has this been misinterpreted?
“Soon before” is misinterpreted as “immediately before”, which the prosecution uses to make it necessary for the woman to have been harassed moments before her death
“Otherwise than under normal circumstances” can often be used to leave out cases of homicide, suicide, and accidents
So, what changes have been made?
Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana directed that the courts should interpret the law liberally while keeping in mind the intention to punish dowry and bride-burning.
Such “absurd” interpretations of the timeline must be avoided. Rather, the prosecution needs to show only a “proximate and live link” between the harassment and the death.
The law does not take a pigeonhole approach in categorizing death as homicidal, suicidal or accidental.
The judgment also raised concern over the casual way in which the accused was examined
According to Ramana, trial courts record the statement of the accused in a “very casual and cursory manner, without specifically questioning the accused as to his defense”. Sometimes family members are also roped in, even though they have no active role in the commission of the offense.
Dowry deaths accounted for 40% to 50% of homicides in the country for almost a decade from 1999 to 2018.
Class 12 boards were cancelled. What now?
After months of confusion, debates and appeals, we finally have clarity on the Class 12th board examinations. Students are happy, parents are relieved, and teachers now have a plan.
But what now?
There are 3 proposed solutions through which assessments could be conducted:
Internal scores of Class 10-12 + Class 10 board results
Class 12 pre-board results + Class 10 board exam marks
Pre-board and internal tests of Class 12
Do you remember how your pre-boards went?
Most of us did not even take them, because we were not prepared. And even the best of us used it as practice for a part of the syllabus.
When Class 10 boards were cancelled, schools struggled with extrapolating internal marks. The directions from CBSE indicated that the final bell curve should match that of previous years’. This means that if there were 20 students with 90+ marks, then this year should also have 20 students with 90+ marks. This is not only difficult to ensure, but can also be unfair to the students. Schools have to manually increase or decrease each student’s marks!
While this might not be that big of an issue for Class 10th, Class 12 board exams have a direct impact on future admissions. If you lost out 2 marks just because you had to fit into a bracket, would you be happy? What if those 2 marks decided the ever-competitive DU admission list?
If you are a student, we would love to hear if you are happy with this decision or not. What could have been done differently?
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