 the dowry proillbition bill, 1959(as introduced in lok sabha on 24m april, 1959)  (as introduced in lok sabha) a billto prohibit the giving or taking of dowry be it enacted by parliament in the tenth year of the republic of india as follows:-1 (1) this act may be called the dowry prohibition act, 1959 (2) it extends to the whole of india except the state of jammu ~~~~ ~tje - 5 and kashmir commencement (3) it shall come into force on such date as the central government may, by notification in the official gazette, appoint, and  different dates may be appointed for different states 9~fi~ldowry 2 in this act, "dowry" means any property or valuable security 10 given or agreed to be given to one party to a marriage or to any other person on behalf of such party by the other party to the marriage or by any other person on behalf of such other party either at the marriage or before or after the marriage, as consideration for the betrothal or marriage of the said parties, but does not 15 include-(i) dower or mahar in the case of persons to whom the muslim personal law (shariat) applies; or (ii) any presents made at the time of the marriage to either party to the marriage in the form of ornaments, clothes and 20 other articles not exceeding two thousand rupees in value in the aggregate of 1860 explanation-the expression "valuable security" has the same meaning as in section 30 of the indian penal code penalty for giving or taking dowry 3 if any person, after the commencement of this act, gives or takes or abets the giving or taking of dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both penalty 4 if any person, after the commencement of this act, demands, j ~~manding directly or indirectly, from the parents or guardian of a bride or dowry bridegroom, as the case may be, any dowry, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both 5 any agreement for the giving or taking of dowry shall be void 10 agreement for giving or taking dowry to be void dowry to 6 (1) where, in contravention of the provisions of this act, any ~~e fbrenefit dowry is received by any person other than the woman in connecof the tion with whose marriage it is given, that person shall transfer it to h'::eh~irs the woman within one year of the date of the marriage or, if the woman is a minor, within one year after she has attained the age is of eighteen years, and pending such transfer, shall hold it in trust for the benefit of the woman (2) if any person fails to transfer any property as required by sub-section (i) and within the time limited therefor, he shall be punishable with imprisonment which may extend to six months, or 20 with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees, or with both; but such punishment shall not absolve the person from hit obligation to transfer the property as required by sub-section (1) (3) wh2rc the woman entitled to any property under subsection (1) dies before receiving it, the heirs of the woman shall be 25 entitled to claim it from the person holding it for the time being (4) nothing contained in this section shall affect the provisions of section 3 or section 4 cogni:lance 7 notwithstanding anything contained in the code of criminal of offences p ed roc ure, 1898 ,-30 (a) no court inferior to that of a magistrate of the first class shall try any offence punishable under this act; (b) no court shall take cognizance of any such offence except on a complaint made within one year from the date of the offence 35 8 every offence under this act shall be non-cognizable, ba;lable 0t,!febnces u e nonand non-compoundable cognizable bailable noncompoundable 9 (1) the state government may, by notification in the official power to gazette, make rules for carrying out the purposes of this act ~~ 5 (2) all rules made under this act shall be laid before the state legislature, as soon as may be, after they are made andhra 10 on the date on which this act comes into force in the state repeals ~~~dis~f of andhra pradesh or the state of bihar, the andhra pradesh dowry 1958 prohibition act, 1958, or, as the case may be, the bihar dowry res-~jh~f fg5~ 10 traint act, 1950, shall stand repealed  statement of objects and reasonsthe object of this bill is to prohibit the evil practice of glvmg and taking of dowry this question has been engaging the attention of the government for some time past, and one of the methods by which this problem, which is essentially a social one, was sought to be tackled was by the conferment of improved property rights on women by the hindu succession act, 1956 it is, however, felt that a law which makes the practice punishable and at the same time ensures that any dowry, if given, does enure for the benefit of the wife will go a long way to educating public opinion and to the eradication of this evil there has also been a persistent demand for such a law both in and outside parliament hence the present bill it, however, takes care to exclude presents in the form of clothes, ornaments, etc, which are customary at marriages, provided the value thereof does not exceed rs 2,000/- such a provision appears to be necessary to make the law workable new delhi; asoke k sen the 21st april, 1959  memorandum ttegarding delegated legislationclause 9 of the bill empowers the state government to make l'ules for carrying out the purposes of the bill as occasions may arise, in practice, for the making of rules in respect of minor matters, like the manner in which any dowry shallbl! transferred under clause 6, the delegation of power is of a normal character  a billto prohibit the giving or taking of dowry (shri asoke k sen, minister oj law) 