The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that police cannot automatically arrest an accused in a dowry case before judicially examining it.
A bench headed by Justice CK Prasad directed all the state governments to instruct its police officers not to automatically arrest an accused in such cases.
The apex court expressed concerns over misuse of the anti dowry law.
Section 498-A of the IPC was introduced with object to combat the menace of harassment to a woman at the hands of her husband and his relatives.