On the 3rd of July, the Supreme Court declined to entertain a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking the creation of a National Commission for Men. The plea had sought the new commission to look into the cases of suicides among married men and deal with such grievances.
The bench criticized the petitioner for portraying “a one-sided picture” and asked about the data on the death of young girls soon after marriage.
The Bench asked, “No question of misplaced sympathy for anyone. You just want to portray a one-sided picture. Can you give us data on young girls dying soon after marriage?”
SC: No question of misplaced sympathy for anyone. You just want to portray a one sided picture. Can you give us data of young girls dying soon after marriage?
— Bar & Bench – Live Threads (@lawbarandbench) July 3, 2023
Adv: Am saying it goes both ways.#SupremeCourt
The bench stated that if the petitioner expects the court to hold that these husbands have committed suicide because of harassment by the wife, he is sadly mistaken.
However, the two-judge bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta expressed disinclination to entertain the matter. Subsequently, the petitioner Advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari withdrew the petition.
Order: After arguing for sometime Petitioner seeks liberty to withdraw. Dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to pursue the representation.
— Bar & Bench – Live Threads (@lawbarandbench) July 3, 2023
SC: Nobody wants to commit suicide, it depends on facts of individual case. Criminal law takes care, not remediless.#SupremeCourt
The Court also observed that there are ample remedies in such matters
“Nobody wants to commit suicide, it depends on facts of individual case. Criminal law takes care, not remediless.”
The major points in the plea
The petitioner-in-person, Advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari urged the court to direct the National Human Rights Commission to look into the issues of suicides and domestic violence against married men. The petition also sought the framing of guidelines that would deal with such issues.
Further, the plea wanted that the Law Commission of India should study the issue and subsequently prepare a report for the creation of the Commission for Men.
The petitioner also sought directions to ask the police to accept complaints filed by men in this regard. It stated that they should refer the same to the State Human Rights Commission till a law is in place.
The petition said, “Issue direction to the respondent no.1 (Union of India) to issue proper guidelines through the Ministry of Home Affairs to the police authority/station house officer of every police station to accept/receive the complaint of victims of domestic violence or those under stress due to family problems and marriage-related issues, and refer the same to the State Human Rights Commission for its proper disposal till the proper legislation is enacted by the Government of India.”
The petitioner cited the 2021 NCRB data to support his argument. According to the data, approximately 33.2 percent of men ended their lives because of family problems and 4.8 percent due to marriage-related issues.
The plea stated that this year, a total of 1,18,979 men (about 72 percent of total) and 45,026 women (about 27 percent of total) committed suicide.
