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EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NASHIK, Dec 27: The Nashik-based Purush Hakk Saurakshan Samiti (Committee for Protection of Men's Rights) has decided to file a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court, demanding an amendment to section 49B(A) of the Indian Penal Code on grounds of it being `draconian' and biased against men.
The secretary of the committee, the first body of its kind in the country registered in 1996, Dharmendra Chavan, told The Indian Express that the draft of the proposed PIL was being examined by some top lawyers.
He clarified that committee was not demanding a deletion of the `offending' section dealing with ill-treatment by in-laws and husbands, but wanted it amended to make the concerned offence bailable.
Chavan pointed out that they had come across many cases where the husbands or in-laws had been arrested and ill-treated after being booked under the section making the provision a tool to harass husbands. He informed that the such cases were on the upswing.
Stating that the committee was alsolooking for similar provision for husbands on the receiving end of torture, Chavan avers that both parties should have equal advantage in the law to seek legal protection from their spouses.
It may be recalled that Chavan was under fire from women's organisations of Mumbai over a speech delivered during the committee's convention at Dadar on November 15. Twenty-two womens' organisations from Mumbai had demanded a ban on the committee and the arrest of its office-bearers for being anti-women.
The committee was formed two years ago by lawyers and crime reporters who came across gross irregularities in the implementation of section 49B(A).
The Committee is also exploring the possibility of a parliamentary debate on the issue and the relevant changes in the law through a private member's bill.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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