‘Dowry Prohibition Act’ to stop lavish weddings in Punjab

This blog post has MOVED to a new location.
If you wish to add a Comment please write here.

 

A PIL in Punjab & Haryana High Court is seeking to achieve what the government has failed to address in last 30 years. An end to pompous punjabi weddings.

The big, fat Punjabi wedding 
Before delving into the specifics of this PIL and relevant legislation, lets take a look at what pompousness in punjabi weddings has come to mean. The lavish extravaganza has now come to boast of various firsts :

1.  Limo-marriages :  In Punjab it is the in-thing to arrive at the bride’s place in a limousine…or for that matter the bride’s side using a limousine during marriage.

Going in a limousine is becoming quite an ‘in thing’. It is also a flagrant show of wealth and power. Perky, a prospective bridegroom is dreaming of his wedding day. And one of the things besides his bride that excites him is the thought of a ride in the swanky car. He says, “I used to see such cars in English movies only and I used to wonder if I would ever get a chance to ride one. Now that I will be actually travelling in a limousine fills me with a lot of thrill.

Another concept, unique to Ludhiana in Punjab is “limo marriages”. The bridegroom leads the baraat in a swank six-door, air-conditioned limousine. It all started when Harminder Singh, who ran a taxi business in Toronto, returned to Punjab two years ago. The marriage market spurred him to import a second-hand limousine from Canada and rent it out for weddings. Singh now has two, and Ludhiana, four limos. The per-day charges for a flower-swept limo can be anything upwards of Rs 12,000.

2.  Chopper weddings : Limousines too may lose their charm in near future, with ‘fly-high’ modes gathering momentum in punjabi weddings.

The sight of seeing a sobbing bride leaving her family and stepping into a helicopter was unusual and amusing.

The pilot who flew the couple said :

Seeing the chopper at this wedding, I have already got bookings for two more weddings in January and February.

3. Celebrity guests :  Inviting celebrity guests after paying them exorbitant ‘fee’ is another fad in punjabi weddings. A Senior Manager in an Event Management company disclosed:

Singer Sonu Nigam charges Rs.3 million and Shaan’s tag is nearly Rs.2.5 million. While Kailash Kher charges Rs.1.5 million, Daler Mehendi is ready to entertain guests for Rs.120,000, Sukhbir charges Rs.800,000, Mika Rs.500,000, and Harbhajan Mann Rs.400,000. They are in great demand at Punjabi weddings.

4. NRI marriages :  Marrying a NRI is considered a status symbol in Punjab, especially in the fertile Doaba belt. It is said that every second house in Doaba has a NRI member in family. Parents reportedly go to any extent to get their daughters married to NRI grooms, since back home it bolsters their status in society. Unfortunately, in doing so they end up overlooking relevant material facts about the match, thus  compromising on their daughter’s future welfare. There are several instances of NRI men too getting duped in the process. They fall victim to wicked intentions of families whose only interest is immigration to foreign shores. The craze to migrate to foreign countries is the root cause of this burgeoning problem. The ’inside story’ on NRI marriages is available in this document of Rakshak Foundation.

The PIL against lavish weddings
Advocate H.C. Arora has filed a petition in public interest in Punjab & Haryana High Court whereby he has sought court’s intervention in stricter implementation of Dowry Prohibition Act. Interestingly enough, the Punjab government has assured the court and directed all district police chiefs to ensure implementation by cracking down on extravagant weddings.

Existing Law against lavish weddings in Punjab 
In 1976, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 was amended by Punjab Government through Punjab Act 26 of 1976. This state amendment introduced Section 4-A in the following form, as applicable to the state of Punjab :

Section 4-A. Bar of certain acts – Any person who, -

(i) Displays any presents made at the time of such marriage in the form of cash, ornaments, clothes or other articles; or

(ii) Takes in a marriage party more than twenty-five persons exclusive of minor and the members of the band; or

(iii) Gives in the form of Shagun at the time of Thaka, betrothal or marriage, anything the value of which exceeds eleven rupees; or

(iv) Gives to the parents or any other relation of a party to the marriage anything on the occasion of ‘Milni’ or any other ceremony performed in relation to betrothal or marriage; or

(v) Serves to the marriage party more than two principal meals;

shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees or with both.”

Explanation -In this section the expression “principal meal” means lunch or dinner.

As evident, the state amendment negates any scope for extravagance and ostentatious display of wealth.

Cases registered by Police 
Only 25 cases in last 3 years have been registered. This clearly reflects on the poor performance of Dowry Prohibition Act, given the fact that most Punjabi weddings are big, fat and extravagant.

Complaint necessary to register a case
Punjab Police assured the court that they will take action as soon as a complaint is received by them.  G.D. Pandey, ADGP Crime, Punjab Police says:

No, Police is not supposed to take suo moto action, otherwise they will keep on interfering in each and every marriage. There has to be a complaint and that too from girls side.

Which also means that despite the law being violated, if there is no complaint then police would not register a case. And hence the lavish weddings can continue unabated without any hitch or fear of law. Such a condition is nothing but sheer shortsightedness on part of legislature. Like many other procedural flaws, this one adds to the disease as well. 

Government fails in implementation of law
Its been 46 years since Dowry Prohibition Act was enacted. This time span is sufficient to plan, implement, review and make necessary amends in law for a country as diverse as India. If the government was serious enough it could have achieved commendable results in sought social objectives. Instead, knotty affairs like Punjabi weddings have come to define extravagance and flamboyant show of riches.

Such growing opulence only speaks of government’s miserable failure in implementation of the said law.

Major reason for failure
Doing away with opulent marriages is nothing short of a social reform. And to think that mere promulgation of law alone can put a stop to it would be sheer foolishness.

Law has a lot to do with moral conduct. In an era where growing materialism is fast eroding our prized value systems, law abidance itself becomes a serious issue. Hence the task of inducing simplicity in this materialistic world becomes all the more difficult.  Moreover, creating law is one thing, while its implementation is another. Both are distinctly different. If the former is done without keeping in mind the latter then failure is bound to happen.

In the case of Dowry Prohibition Act, government has only made efforts to create awareness about LAW, it has made no efforts to inculcate ‘simple ways of living’. This could have been done through the vast network of educational institutions wherein children imbibe value systems which define their future life style and ethos.

‘Law makers’ at fault
Growing public opinion in favour of simplicity suggests that present generation has enough minds who understand the benefits of conservation and right deployment of  resources.

Whereas in this post-Mahatma Gandhi era it is difficult to find instances of politicians standing as role models for  citizenry. Instead, marriages with even a remote political connection now jostle to make it to Page 3.

Any solution then ?

May be Yes… may be No.  

But one thing is for sure… unless we have the likes of Raja Ram Mohan Roy we should not expect any social reforms to come by.

 

Related Reading:
NRI Marriages: Indian Government to help NRI Couples
State Commissions for Women in India
State Human Rights Commissions in India

Also Read:
Taxman has an eye on your big, fat wedding
Punjab government to trim lavish weddings
Punjab: Campaign against immigration, marriage frauds
Ostentatious weddings against Sikh ethos
No more bling for big fat Indian weddings?
Panel decries big fat Sikh weddings

Advertisement