1
©
GOVERNMENT OF TAMIL NADU 2004
[Regd. No.TN/PMG(CCR)-217/2003-05. [Price: Rs.3.20 Paise.
Part III - Section 1(a)
General Statutory Rules, Notifications, Orders, Regulations, etc., issued by Secretariat Departments.
________
NOTIFICATIONS BY GOVERNMENT
________
SOCIAL WELFARE AND NUTRITIOUS MEAL PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT
TAMIL NADU DOW RY PROHIBITION RULES, 2004.
(G.O. Ms. No.22, Social W elfare and Nutritious Meal Programme, 4 th
February 2004)
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY
No.34] CHENNAI, W EDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2004 Thai 21, Subhanu, Thiruvalluvar Aandu - 2035 No.SRO A-1(f)/2004.
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 10 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (Central Act 28 of 1961) and in supersession of the Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Officers and Advisory Board Rules, 1998, the Governor of Tamil Nadu hereby makes the following Rules:-
RULES
1. Short title and commencement:- (1) These rules may be called the Tamil Nadu Dowry Prohibition Rules, 2004.
(2) It shall come into force on the 4th
February 2004.
2. Definition:- In these rules, unless the context otherwise requires,
(a) "Act" means the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 (Central Act 28 of 1961);
(b) "Advisory Board" means a Board constituted in accordance with sub-section (4) of section 8 -B of the Act to advise and assist the Dowry Prohibition Officers;
(c) "Dowry Prohibition Officer" means, an Officer appointed as such by the Government under section 8-B of the Act;
TAMIL NADU
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE
EXTRAORDINARY
2
(d) "Government" means the State Government;
(e) "Police Officer" means, "Deputy Superintendent of Police" of the Division concerned;
(f) "Probation Officer" means, a District Probation Officer or Additional District Probation Officer or City Probation Officer appointed as such under the Probation of Offenders Act, 1958 (Central Act 20 of 1958);
(g) "Recognised Welfare Institution or Organisation" means, an Institution or Organisation recognized as such under sub-clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub- section (1) of section 7 of the Act;
(h) "District Magistrate" and "complaint" shall have the same meaning as respectively assigned to them and defined under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974);
(i) The words and expressions used in these rules but not defined shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in the Act;
3. Jurisdiction of Dowry Prohibition Officer - The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall exercise jurisdiction and powers under sub -section (1) of section 8 -B of the Act in such area as may be specified by the Government by notification in the Tamil Nadu Government Gazette.
4. Procedure for filing complaints .- A complaint may be filed by any aggrieved person or a parent or other relative of, such person or by any Recognised Welfare Institution or Organisation in writing to the Dowry Prohibition Officer, either in person or through a messenger or by post.
5. Additional functions to be performed by Dowry Prohibition Officer - (i) He shall endeavour to create awareness among the public by organising camps, publicity through Information and Tourism Department, Panchayat Raj Institutions and other media against dowry and to involve local people for prevention of dowry;
(ii) He shall conduct surprise checks and discreet enquiries to ascertain whether there has been any violation of the provisions of the Act and Rules;
(iii) He shall receive complaints for any offence under the Act from any person aggrieved or a parent or other relative of such person or by any recognized welfare institution or organization;
(iv) He shall maintain a register for the purpose of the Act to record all complaints, enquiries and results thereof and other relevant information connected therewith in Form No-I. He shall also maintain separate files with relevant records for each individual case;
(v) He shall act as the Member Secretary or Convenor of the Advisory Board. He shall maintain regular contact with the members of the Advisory Board for necessary advise and assistance from them. He shall inform the District Magistrate or any other person authorized by the Government for the purpose, about all the affairs relating to operation of the Act, as and when necessary;
(vi) He shall keep in his custody all the lists of presents submitted by the parties to any marriage and make entries relating thereto in a Register to be maintained for
.
3
the purpose. He shall also examine these lists and ensure compliance of the provisions of the Dowry Prohibition (Maintenance of List of Presents to the Bride and Bridegroom) Rules, 1985.
(vii) He shall discharge his duties with due care, decorum, privacy and in a manner to uphold the dignity and harmony of family relationships;
(viii) The Dowry Prohibition Officer's approach shall be primarily preventive and remedial and prosecution shall be recommended or resorted to, only if all other measures and directions are found ineffective or parties fail to comply with the orders or direction with in the stipulated time;
(ix) Every such complaint received by the Dowry Prohibition Officer shall be serially numbered and duly registered in a Register in Form No -II annexed to these rules;
(x) The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall scrutini se the complaint and if it is found that the nature and the contents of the complaint is such apparently coming within the purview of Sections 3 or 4 or 4-A or 5 or 6 of the Act, he will immediately conduct an enquiry to collect such evidence from the parties as to the genuineness of the complaint.
(xi) The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall conduct an, on the spot investigation and can collect such evidence either oral or in writing from the parties or witnesses or he can fix up a hearing of the parties witnesses in his office or in a place convenient to him without causing much inconvenience or hardship to the parties;
(xii) The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall intimate or serve notices to the parties and witnesses of the date, time and place of hearing of the complaints in Form III annexed to these rules;
(xiii) Every petition shall be enquired into and heard and come to a finding within a month from the date of its receipt;
(xiv) W here on the date fixed for hearing of the complaint or petition or on any other date to which such hearing may be adjourned, the complainant or petitioner does not appear, the Dowry Prohibition Officer, may in his discretion, either dismiss the complaint or petition for default or give a finding as to its merit, which shall be recorded in the case file;
(xv) The Dowry Prohibition Officers may utilise the services of District Probation Officers or Additional District Probation Officers or City Probation Officers of the area for collecting information or conducting enquiries or assisting in any stage of enquiries or proceedings relating to a complaint, petition or application under the Act;
(xvi) On receipt of requisition from the Dowry Prohibition Officer, the Probation Officers shall conduct necessary enquiries, collect information and furnish such details or report promptly as requested by him;
(xvii) W here any dowry is received by any person other than the women and complaint is received in respect of non -transfer of such dowry to the women who is entitled to it in accordance with section 6 of the Act, the Dowry Prohibition Officer shall issue directions to parties to transfer the same within the stipulated time;
4
(xviii) He shall specifically make it clear that marriages performed within his jurisdiction are likely to be visited by him or his staff along with police officers to see that the provisions of the Act are not contravened;
(xix) The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall make necessary enquiries regarding non-observance of the provision of the Act in respect of the marriages held or proposed to be held with his jurisdiction;
(xx) He shall ascertain and confirm by suitable means in respect of as ma ny number of marriages as are held within his jurisdiction, as to whether the provisions of the Act are being followed and are not being contravened;
(xxi) The Dowry Prohibition Officer while making enquiries under the Act or when he attends any marriage for the purposes of making enquiries, take the assistance of any Police Officer or other officers to assist him in the performance of his functions and it shall be the duty of the Police Officer to render all assistance required by the Dowry Prohibition Officer;
(xxii) He shall render assistance to the Police in investigating the complaint filed under the Act and the Court in the trial of the case;
(xxiii) He shall seek the guidance of Advisory Board in matters relating to their functioning under the Act;
(xxiv) The Dowry Prohibition Officer (Member Secretary or Convenor of the Advisory Board) shall send a copy of the proceedings of each meeting of the Advisory Board, within a fortnight from the date of meeting to the District Magistrate with a copy to the Government for information and necessary action;
(xxv) He shall also perform such other duties as may be assigned in this regard by the Government.
(xxvi) The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall be responsible for the preparation and submission of an Annual Report on the progress of implementation of Dowry Prohibition Act and related matters and of such statistics as may from time to time be required by Government;
(xxvii) The Dowry Prohibition Officer shall issue instructions to all the Departments of the Government to the following effect:-
i. Every Government servant shall, after marriage, or when he celebrates the marriage of his children, furnish declaration stating that he has not taken any dowry, to Head of Department. The declaration shall be signed by the wife, father and father-in-law;
ii. One specified day in a year to be observed as Dowry Prohibition Day;
iii. Pledge to be administered on Dowry Prohibition Day (26 th
November) to the students in Schools and College s and other institutions and by those employed in Government service not to give or take dowry;
iv. Receipt of dowry either by the bridegroom or by his parents, who happens to be the Government servant shall be considered as "misconduct" for the purpose of Service Rules making a ground for disciplinary action.
6. Submission of list of presents by parties to the marriage .- The parties to any marriage or any of the parents or either of them shall furnish to the concerned Dowry
5
Prohibition Officer within one month from the date of marriage a copy of the list of presents prepared in accordance with the Dowry Prohibition (Maintenance of List of Presents to the Bride and Bridegroom) Rules, 1985.
7. Procedure for Prosecution of Offenders .- In all cases of complaints investigated by Dowry Prohibition Officers. Where there is a prima facie finding as to the commission of an offence, the report shall be submitted to the Competent Magistrate for prosecuting the offenders along with the statement recorded, all other connected documents of the proceedings and brief account of his findings. This report shall be deemed to be a report under section 173 of Code of Criminal Procedure 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974).
8. Recognition of Welfare Institutions - (i) A Welfare Institution or Organization primarily devoted to any of the following kinds of work and has rendered remarkable service in the field for a period of not less than three years will be eligible for seeking recognition under sub -clause (ii) of clause (b) of sub -section (1) of section 7 of the Act.
(a) Social Welfare including care, protection and training of women;
(b) Organisation of women of a State wide or All India character, Prominent Mahila Samajs or Women Organisations:
(c) Social Defence including care and protection of Destitute, Rescue women and children;
(d) Any organization of lawyers interested in eradicating social evils;
(2) Any w elfare institution or organization eligible under sub -rule (1) and desiring recognition shall make application to the Government in Form -IV annexed to these rules together with a copy of each of the Rules, By Articles of Association, lists of its members and office bearers and a report regarding its activities and past record of service or Community Service;
(3) The Government may after making such enquiry by a senior officer of the concerned Department and considering the report as to the nature and past record of service of the organisation or institution which has present the application in this regard grant recognition for a period of five years which can be renewed after submitting a renewal application;
(4) An application for renewal or recognition shall be submitted in Form -V annexed to these rules in the manner prescribed in sub -rule (2) of rule 9 which shall be processed as per the procedure laid down in sub -rule (3) and recognition shall be granted or renewed in cases where the working of the institution or organi sation is reported to be fairly satisfactory.
(5) The Government may withdraw the recognition granted to an institution or organisation, if the working of the institution or organisation is found or reported to be unsatisfactory by the Dowry Prohibition Officer or otherwise.
9. Limitation and conditions subject to which a Dowry Prohibition Officer may exercise powers of Police Officer -(1) Save and except the provisions of Chapters V of the Code of criminal Procedure, namely, the power of arrest of a person without
6
warrant, the Dowry Prohibition Officer shall have the powers of a Police Office r under the said Code for the purpose of Investigation and submission of Report before the Competent Magistrate;
(2) W henever the Dowry Prohibition Officer has reasonable grounds for believing that an offence punishable under the Act has been or is being or is about to be committed within his jurisdiction and that the search of any premises with warrant cannot be made without undue delay, he may, after sending the grounds of his belief to the District Magistrate search such premises without a warrant;
(3) Before making a search under sub -section (2), the Dowry Prohibition Officer shall call upon two or more resider of the locality in which the place to be searched is situated, to attend and witness the search, and may issue an order writing to them or any of them to do so;
(4) Any person, without reasonable cause, refuses or neglects, to attend and witness a search under this rule, when called upon to do so by an order in writing delivered or tendered to him, shall be deemed to have committed an off………. under section 187 of the Indian Penal Code (Central Act 45 of 1860).
C.K. GARIYALI,
Secretary to Government. FORM-I
[See Rule 5 sub-rule (iv).] REGISTER OF COMPLAINTS/PETITIONS Sl.
No.
List of
Complaints.
Name
and
address
of
Petitioner
Relationship
with the
married
couple.
Date of
Marriage
fixed or
held.
Date of
receipt of
petition/
complaint.
Date of
hearing.
Nature
of
disposal.
Initials
of
Officer.
Remarks.
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
FORM-II
[See Rule 5 sub-rule (ix).]
QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT REGARDING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DOW RY PROHIBITION ACT, 1961
Sl.
No.
Details of
petition/
complaints
received .
From
whom
Name
and
address.
Nature of
Complaints
/ Petition.
Date of
Registration.
Action
Taken
Nature of
settlement
of issue
Dated
initials
of the
Officers
Remarks
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)
Dowry Probation Officer.
7
FORM-III [See Rule 5 sub-rule (xiii).]
NOTICE TO APPEAR BEFORE DOWRY PROHIBITION OFFICER
To
(Name of person against whom complaint has been received and address) Whereas your attendance is necessary to collect information and gather evidence to a complaint of ………………………………………………(state shortly the alleged offence) you are hereby required to appear in person before the Dowry Prohibition Officer on the day of ………………………………………………………at …………………………………………(time) in the Office of the …...……………Place). Dated the day of 200
Dowry Prohibition Officer
(Office Seal)
8
FORM-IV [See Rule sub-rule (2).] FORM OF APPLICATION FOR RECOGNITION OF W ELFARE INSTITUTION / ORGANISATION.
1. Name of the Welfare Institution /Organisation :
2. Full Address :
3. Aims and Objectives :
4. Name and address of the Head of the Institution/Organisation
:
5. Brief account of its activities :
6. Justification for granting recognition :
7. Has any such application been made Previously, if so its results together with its date, Month and Year
:
8. Any other particulars :
Enclosures:
(1)
(2)
(3)
Place:
Date:
Signature of the Head of the Welfare Institution/Organisation.
8
9
FORM-V [See Rule sub-rule (4).]
FORM OF APPLICATION FOR RENEWAL OF CERTIFICATE OF RECOGNITION .
1. Name of the Welfare Institution /Organisation :
2. Full Address :
3. Brief account of the achievements during last five years
:
4. Name and address of the Head of the institution/Organisation
:
5. Certificate No., date and date of expiry :
6. Any other particulars :
Place:
Date:
Signature of the Head of the Welfare Institution or Organisation.
8