Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra on Wednesday virtually set the stage for recalling a previous order by the apex court that laid down a set of guidelines under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code by which police was refrained from arresting the husband and his family on a wife’s dowry harassment complaint.
Dealing with a petition that sought modification to this order passed on July 27, 2017, the bench headed by CJI on Wednesday said, “Who are we to decide as to how the police will register an FIR under Section 498A of the IPC. There cannot be any guidelines on FIR registration and police have to be guided as per Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).”
On an earlier occasion in October, the CJI-headed bench had commented on the same order terming it to be against the rights of women. The bench said it will take a call on whether to overrule that decision during the next hearing in the second week of January.
