The Supreme Court declined to hear a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that called for the establishment of a National Commission for Men to address the issue of suicides among married men on Monday, 3 July 2023. The Bench, comprising Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta, expressed the view that the petition presented a one-sided perspective and questioned whether similar data was available regarding 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?
Adv: Am saying it goes both ways.#SupremeCourt
— Bar & Bench – Live Threads (@lawbarandbench) July 3, 2023
The court emphasized that criminal law already addresses such situations and individuals are not without recourse. They stated that nobody wishes to commit suicide, and the circumstances surrounding each case are unique.
Order: After arguing for sometime Petitioner seeks liberty to withdraw. Dismissed as withdrawn with liberty to pursue the representation.
SC: Nobody wants to commit suicide, it depends on facts of individual case. Criminal law takes care, not remediless.#SupremeCourt
— Bar & Bench – Live Threads (@lawbarandbench) July 3, 2023
The court also highlighted that criminal law provides remedies for such cases.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) requested the creation of guidelines to support married men who could contemplate suicide as a consequence of domestic violence. Advocate Mahesh Kumar Tiwari, who represented himself in the case, requested the creation of a National Commission for Men by the central government. The petitioner also urged the National Human Rights Commission to investigate suicides and domestic violence against married men.
Tiwari further requested the Law Commission of India to study the matter and prepare a report for the establishment of the proposed Commission.
Referring to the 2021 data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), the petitioner highlighted that around 33.2% of men took their own lives as a result of family problems, while 4.8% were attributed to marriage-related issues. The plea noted that out of the total number of suicides recorded, approximately 72%, amounting to 118,979 cases, involved men, whereas 27%, or 45,026 cases, involved women.
Consequently, the plea argued that the police should accept complaints lodged by men in such cases and refer them to State Human Rights Commissions until specific legislation is enacted.
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