NEW DELHI, 3 FEB

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging certain provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act and alleging misuse of women-centric laws.

"You can go and raise all these grounds in Parliament," a bench of Justices BR Gavai and K Vinod Chandran told the counsel appearing for the petitioner.

The petitioner's counsel said they were seeking to challenge certain provisions of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, including sections 2 and 3.

While section 2 of the Act deals with definition of dowry, section 3 pertains to penalty for giving or taking dowry.

The counsel said the petitioner was concerned about these laws which adversely impacts men.

The public interest litigation (PIL) names laws like the Dowry Prohibition Act, the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, and the provision on cruelty to women in the erstwhile Indian Penal Code to question their validity.

The plea filed by petitioner Rupshi Singh highlighted the alleged malice in law, the unreasonableness contained in the impugned provisions and the lack of semblance of law in the provisions.

The petitioner was seeking protection of men against the atrocities committed by women filing false complaints, abusing the very laws that were meant to protect them from harm.

The PIL submitted that the Dowry Prohibition Act was discriminatory on the grounds of religion and further assailed the provisions of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 as being women-centric and discriminatory against men.