Bow down before your wife's 'diktat', SC tells husbands

NEW DELHI: If you want to buy matrimonial peace just do whatever your wife says!

This is not some piece of advice from a marriage counsellor, rather it is from the country's apex court.

A vacation bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Deepak Verma observed, "Bibi joh boltee hai woh sunno (listen to whatever your wife says), as otherwise it could land you in trouble. Because if you do not listen to her, you will suffer the consequences."

"Hum sab bhogi hai (we are all sufferers)," the bench said in a lighter vein.

The bench further said that a husband has to accept the suggestion of a wife irrespective of the fact whether it is sensible or not.

"If your wife asks you to put your face that side, put it that side. If she says, put it this side, then put it this side. Otherwise you will face trouble. Hum sub bhogi hai," the bench remarked again.

The interesting suggestions from the apex court evolved on Tuesday during a matrimonial case involving an Air Force official Deepak Kumar who complained that his estranged wife Manisha had ruined him and his family by implicating them in false criminal cases including sodomy.

The couple got married 17 years ago but matrimonial disputes surfaced between the two soon after marriage.

A district court in Chandigarh dismissed Deepak's plea for divorce as Manisha opposed it, but a single judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court granted decree of judicial separation.

On an appeal from Manisha, a division bench granted the decree of divorce as the marriage "had irretrievably broken down" besides directing Rs 10 lakh maintenance amount from Deepak to her.

Aggrieved by the high court's order Manisha filed the appeal in the apex court challenging the decree of divorce.

Deepak's counsel argued that Manisha even though had implicated her husband and his family in a host of criminal cases was yet opposing the divorce despite the marriage breaking down irretrievably.

The vacation bench however, posted the matter for further hearing to July last week as there was no urgency in dealing with the matter.

"You have waited for 17 years, so wait for a few more days," the bench said while switching over to the next item on the agenda.

Sailor set to test political waters, raises dowry issue

NEW DELHI:
Captain Sudhir Kumar is thrilled with the kind of support he has been getting, specially from women. Far from the regulated, almost regimental life he is used to, Kumar is sweating it out in the Delhi sun and getting a taste of Indian politics. He is contesting the general elections from the New Delhi constituency as candidate of the little known Bharat Punarnirman Dal (BPD) and is addressing issues that nobody seems to have paid much attention to till now safety at sea for Indian sailors is just one of them.

Kumar, presently working with the merchant navy, has been associated with BPD since its inception in 2006. The volunteers comprise ex-IITians, MBAs and engineers and the target audience is the middle class voter. That is precisely why Kumar chose to enter the battle from a strongly contested zone. "I represent the common man who is fed up with dirty politics. All my voters are decision makers. The New Delhi constituency has the maximum number of people who can make a difference to the legal and administerial way of functioning in the country,'' says Kumar.

The party, that is fielding 11 contestants all over the country, is strongly focussed on family affairs and Kumar is arguing hard against the present dowry laws. "I have been campaigning long hours and going for padyatras too. The response has been phenomenal, specially from women who have connected to the issues I have raised. No civil or uncivil country punishes 10-30 relatives for a crime that is no crime. A marital dispute is between the husband and wife and unless there are bigger issues attached to it, should be dealt with in a civil court and not a criminal court,'' says Kumar.

Kumar is on leave from his job at present, having come to Delhi only 20 days ago to start his campaigning. "I am an honest person and need a job to support my family,'' he laughs, adding that if he is elected, he would have no option but to quit. "I know the competition I am up against but it doesn't deter me at all. I would be happy if I am able to get my message across to the people and make some difference to their lives,'' he adds.

Because of his strong connections with Africa he has been posted there for several years Kumar is also advocating strong ties with the continent. "India is going to be facing a severe shortage of food grains in the next five years or so. Africa can be our food basket and we need to develop our relations with them,'' he says.

Far from the usual promises of roti, kapda aur makan, Kumar has an entirely new agenda up his sleeve which includes urban rebuilding of Delhi, domestic harmony, judicial reforms and freedom of media and private radio.

No more Interpol Red Corner Notices in 498A

Interpol stops issuing notices
April 22nd, 2009

Hyderabad

April 21: Interpol, which issues Red Corner notices to arrest criminals all over the world, has stopped issuing notices pertaining to Section 498(A) (dowry harassment) cases registered in India. There are about 3,000 requests for red corner notices from Indian government pending with Interpol.
The inspector-general of CID, Mr S. Umapathi, said there are as many as 120 cases from Andhra Pradesh pending with Interpol for the past eight months.
Sources in the CBI said Punjab tops the list with nearly 300 cases.
According to sources, there is no law pertaining to dowry harassment in US and other developed countries and hence the Interpol is in dilemma whether they can issue Red Corner notice based on the Indian law.
“The mater has been discussed with US embassy officials recently. However, there was no improvement in the status,” Mr Umapathi said. “There was no delay in other criminal cases,” he added.
The external affairs ministry had sent several representations to Interpol explaining the seriousness of the cases booked under Section 498 (A). However it failed to get any positive response from them.

Save family, save nation, vote for Sudhir Kumar

April 20, 2009 was a big day for Save Indian Family movement. One more milestone has been achieved on this very day. Sudhir Kumar Anand, the SIFF commando, has taken the movement of saving indian families against legal terrorism a big step forward . His nomination for Lok Sabha election from New Delhi constituency, through Bharat Punarnirman Dal (BPD), the party formed by IIT/IIM pass outs, was accepted by Election Commission on this day.

Vote for Family

Man pining for separated son commits suicide

In a tragic turn of events, a Canadian national of Indian origin committed suicide when he couldn't bear the separation from his child. It seems, in the present case the suicide victim, Syed Makdoom left behind a suicide message on his cellphone blaming his wife for this unfortunate situation and abetting his ordeal. He also has a personal blog - which sadly won't be updated any more - where he documents his personal life and plea for help. Unfortunately there is no systemic response for a man's plea for help.
May Peace be upon him.

CJI Balakrishnan admits to misuse of dowry laws

1 Feb 2009, 0323 hrs IST, TNN

NEW DELHI: Dealing a blow to women's rights activists who have been stringently defending the Section 498A provision of the Indian Penal Code, Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan on Saturday said that in some cases this section -- that deals with matrimonial cruelty -- was being `grossly misused'.
Elaborating on false cases being filed in recent times, the CJI said that relatives not involved with a matrimonial dispute were unfairly implicated. "In some cases, 498A is grossly misused,'' he said. Balakrishnan was speaking at a seminar, `Marriage laws -- issues and challenges', organised by the National Commission for Women.
The IPC section allows for immediate arrest of the husband and in-laws by the police on the basis of a woman's complaint and has been controversial. Several pro-male organisations have been protesting against the section saying that the law is being misused by women for selfish gains and should include a penalty provision against its misuse. But women activists have been lobbying for no change in the law.
Faced with adverse comments from the CJI, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Girija Vyas said that it was lack of awareness that led to false cases under 498A. "I would not like to use the term misuse. There is lack of awareness amongst people that is exploited by lawyers and police. We feel there is no need to review the law,'' Vyas said.
CJI Balakrishnan added that it was because of cases of misuse that the recent amendments in the Criminal Procedure Code had been enacted by Parliament. He, however, added that while the amendments were acceptable they should have been discussed threadbare in Parliament before being passed. "The amendments are good. They have given relief to those arrested on false accusations. The police has to give reasons before they arrest anyone. Unfortunately, Parliament passed the legislation without discussion,'' Balakrishnan added.
Commenting on the CrPC amendments, Vyas said that there had been demands from NGOs that the law be reviewed and the Commission was examining the matter.

Cops book wife for man’s suicide

6 Nov 2008, 0302 hrs IST, TNN

NAGPUR: Five days after Vitthal Dodke, a resident of the Ayodhya Nagar, committed suicide, Sakkardara police have registered offences against six persons, including his wife, for allegedly abetting the man to end his life. Police have already dispatched units to arrest the accused, but till Wednesday evening, none had been taken into custody.

Behind the scenes, one may say that it was due to the efforts put in by members of the Save Indian Family Foundation (SIFF), an organisation consisting mostly of men tortured by their wives, which did the trick. Otherwise, the police had not registered offence against anyone despite the fact that Dodke had mentioned in his suicide note that his wife had driven him to commit suicide.

Offences under section 306 of the IPC have been registered against six accused identified as Dodke’s wife Saroj, her family members Ashok Kshirsagar, Prakash Kshirsagar, their father Natthuji Kshirsagar and his wife, as well as one Ramkrishna Pimpalkar. The offences were registered late on Wednesday evening.

However, despite this, members of the SIFF, led by Rajesh Wakharia, organised a demonstration outside the Sakkardara police station on Wednesday morning, to protest the inordinate delay by the cops to register offence against the accused. The situation was diffused after the policemen informed them that they had already sent squads to bring in the accused.

Dodke had committed suicide by hanging himself at his home. His body had been discovered at on October 31. During primary investigations, police recovered a suicide note in which Dodke had said that his wife was pressurising him to have his parental house transferred in her name, and had been threatening to lodge false complaints at the local police station and have him and his family arrested if he did not comply with her demands.

Incidentally, this is the third case in a year in the city of a woman being booked by the police for allegedly driving her husband to suicide. In a similar incident in Ajni a few months ago, a city corporator and her family had been booked by the police after being accused of abetting her husband to commit suicide.