New Delhi: If you thought enough had been written and spoken about the Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan wedding then you are wrong.
The Supreme Court on Thursday cited the Bollywood couple’s example to advocate that age difference between spouses could be no reason for a girl to commit suicide.
“It is ridiculous to say that just because the bride was a little older than the groom it resulted in her suicide. In that case even Aishwariya Rai is said to be a little older than Abhishek Bachchan but they are quite happy with the marriage,” remarked a bench of Justices S B Sinha and Markandeya Katju at former High Court Chief Justice and senior counsel Prabha Shankar Misra.
The remarks, which came during the hearing of a criminal appeal in a dowry death case of a 20-year-old girl Gayatri from Jharkhand, left the entire court in splits.
The defence took the plea that since the bride was older than the groom, there was compatibility problem, which resulted in her suicide.
Gayatri, who was married to accused Raja Lal Singh, a businessman, in April 2000, hanged herself at her husband's house within seven months of the marriage due to alleged dowry harassment. The deceased was said to be a year older than her husband.
“You have behaved like a barbarian and you need to be dealt with in a barbarian manner. Death should be imposed for such people who set ablaze or kill their own daughter-in-law for dowry,” the bench observed, when Misra sought to explain that there was no foul play in the death.
The bench further remarked that dowry menace has creeped into the vitals of the country so much so that rate of dowry demand for a groom from the IAS cadre is now nothing less than Rs 1 crore, sending the court hall once again roaring with laughter.
The arguments, however, remained inconclusive as Jharkhand counsel Manish K Saran, who is opposing the release of the accused, is yet to make his submission.
(With inputs from PTI)
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