The Supreme Court on Wednesday said it could not frame guidelines on how to investigate cases of dowry harassment as it would amount to going beyond statutory provisions, IANS reported. In July, a Supreme Court bench had restricted the police from arresting an accused in a dowry harassment case till a preliminary inquiry is conducted.

“How can the court lay down guidelines when there is an Indian Penal Code provision?” the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, according to Bar and Bench. “We could say that investigating authority should be circumspect when exercising its power, but why should there be guidelines?”

Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau, bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit, on July 27, had said that while charge sheets were filed in 93.6% of cases, only 14.4% resulted in convictions. It had called for family welfare committees to be set up in every district to look into dowry-related complaints.

On Wednesday, the court was hearing a petition filed by a Maharashtra-based NGO, Nyayadhar, demanding inclusion of women in the family welfare committees. The bench said investigations in cases of dowry harassment under Section 498A cannot be handed over to the committee, reported The Times of India.

Amicus curiae – senior counsel V Shekhar and Indu Malhotra – who had been appointed in October, sought the stay of previous order. However, the Supreme Court said it may “accept or overrule” it, IANS reported.

On October 13, the CJI-led bench had said it will revisit the July order, saying the judgment went against women’s rights.

The matter will next be heard in the third week of January.