KATHMANDU: Terming the government cash incentive for encouraging widows (single women) to remarry as “state sponsored dowry”, the Supreme Court today stayed the scheme.

A division bench of Justices Bala Ram KC and Girish Chandra Lal stayed the government offer to provide Rs 50,000 for single women to remarry. They directed the government not to implement the scheme until a final decision.

Last July, the government announced the scheme through its budget. “Since the government decision to provide reward can make women dependent on men instead of making them competent, such a scheme might turn into a state-sponsored dowry,” the bench argued. The bench also told the government authorities to maintain the status quo of the decision.

“The court has already directed to strictly implement Social Behaviour Reform Act by abolishing dowry. The Constitution has emphasised women’s empowerment and development while the Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women has already been rectified by the government, but this decision violates it,” the bench observed. The bench also added that the widows might lose their social security if the government offer for single women to remarry is to be enforced. “Offering any promise, involve in fraudulent activity, threatening, charm and false promise do not have any rooms for marriage and ultimately such a marriage would be void any time,” the apex court ruled.

The apex court was responding to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) lodged by a group of women including the chairperson of Women for Human Rights Lily Thapa, challenging the government decision.

The women groups have moved the apex court demanding it to annual the part of the budget which had offered single women to get second marriage.