31 October 2007 :

Panel chairman Justice A.R. Lakshmanan of the Law Commission submitted a report to the Indian Law Minister that favoured a minimum term of 10 years for dowry deaths, increasing it from the current seven, while stating that it does not believe the offence deserves the death sentence. Its findings show that the number of dowry deaths has not come down since 1986, when the maximum punishment was extended to a life term. However, the Report on Dowry Death clarified that “where a case of dowry death falls within the ambit of the offence of murder, awarding the death sentence may be legally permissible”. The proposals, advisory in nature, are not binding on the government. The Supreme Court’s guidelines for awarding the death sentence will have to be adhered to in such cases, the panel said. Murder is not the same thing as dowry death, the report said, adding that though the bride’s death may be a common element in both offences, the absence of a direct connection between the husband and the wife’s death could distinguish the two.