There is a problem with the police in this country that it jumps to arrest without applying its mind, said the Supreme Court on Friday, emphasizing the need to train officers handling complaints of dowry harassment to make a preliminary inquiry on a complaint before making an arrest.

With this rider, the Court restored the power of the police to register FIR and make arrests on complaints of dowry harassment and cruelty under Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code. This power was unavailable to the police after July 27, 2017, when a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court directed all 498A complaints to go to a Family Welfare Committee in each district. This Committee, comprising of social activists and paralegal volunteers drawn from the District Legal Services Authority (DLSA), had to explore the possibility of a settlement. Only when talks between the warring couple failed, the Committee was to recommend the filing of a case to the police or the magistrate concerned.

Modifying this order of July 2017, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra found this procedure new to law and certainly venturing into the legislative domain. “The prescription of duties of the Family Welfare Committee and further action thereof, as we find, are beyond the IPC and the same does not really flow from any provision of the Criminal Procedure Code,” said the bench, also comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, while setting aside the order forming the committees.

What led to the July 2017 judgment was a growing concern that most cases filed under Section 498A are false complaints targeted at teaching a lesson to the husband and his family. What strengthened this belief was statistics prepared by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). In 2013, out of 4.66 lakh dowry harassment cases pending in various courts, 38,165 cases ended up in acquittal and only 7,258 convictions. In 2009, out of 89,546 cases filed, 8,352 cases were found to be false, the NCRB data suggested. Citing these studies, the Court felt the need to filter out complaints in order to shield the accused, since the offence is non-bailable.

The CJI-headed bench noted this concern but concluded that the fault was with the execution of the law and not the law per se. “The fault lies with the investigating agency which sometimes jumps into action without application of mind,” the bench said. The bench directed the Director General of Police (DGP) of each State to ensure that investigating officers who are in charge of the investigation of cases of offences under Section 498-A IPC should be imparted rigorous training with regard to the principles relating to arrest.”

In the event the couple decides to bury the hatchet and come to a settlement, the option of approaching the High Court to quash the criminal proceeding will be open to the accused, the judgment said.