The ancient marriage rites in the Vedic period are associated with Kanyadan.
It is laid down
in Dharamshastara that the meritorious act of Kanyadan is not complete till the bridegroom
was given a dakshina. So when a bride is given over to the bridegroom, he has to be given
something in cash or kind which constitute varadakshina. Thus Kanyadan became
associated with Varadakshina i.e. the cash or gifts in kind by the parents or guardian of the
bride to the bridegroom. The varadakshina was offered out of affection and did not constitute
any kind of compulsion or consideration for the marriage. It was a voluntary practice without
any coercive overtones. In the course of time, the voluntary element in dowry has
disappeared and the coercive element has crept in. it has taken deep roots not only in the
marriage ceremony but also post-marital relationship. What was originally intended to be a
taken dakshina for the bridegroom has now gone out of proportions and has assumed the
nomenclature ‘dowry’.
The social reformers of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries have striven hard for the
abolition of various social evils including the evil of dowry system. Long before India gained
Independence, the then provincial Government of Sind passed an enactment known as
“Sind Deti-Leti Act, 1939” with a view to deal effectively with the evils of dowry system but
the enactment had neither any impact nor could create the desired effect. During the last
few decades the evils of dowry system has taken an acute form in almost all parts of the
country and in almost all the sections of society. In a bid to eradicate this evil from the
society, the State Governments of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh enacted “The Bihar Dowry
Restraint Act, 1950” and “The Andhra Pradesh Dowry Prohibition Act, 1958” for the
respective States, but both these enactments failed to achieve the objectives for which they
were enacted.
The evil of dowry system was assuming enormous proportions and the minds of right
thinking persons both outside and inside the State Legislatures and the Parliament were
shattered. The matter was raised in the Parliament in very first session of the Lok Sabha.
Many proposals for restraining dowry were placed in the Parliament in the form of Private
Members Bills. During the course of discussions on a non-official Bill in the Lok Sabha in
1953, the then Minister of Law gave an assurance to the House that a bill on the subject
would be prepared in consultation with the State Governments. In pursuance of the
assurance, a Bill was subsequently submitted for consideration of the Cabinet. The Cabinet
then decided that the proposal might be held in abeyance till the enactment of the Hindu
Succession Act. After the enactment of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956, the Government
felt that a separate legislation to prohibit dowry was not a matter of urgency. As the problem
continued to increase the issue was against and again agitated in the Parliament as well as
in State Legislatures. On account of pressure both at political and social levels, the
Government finally decided to process the legislation. On 24 th April, 1959 the dowry
Prohibition Bill, 1959 was introduced in the Lok Sabha.
