From correspondents in Delhi, India, 04:01 PM IST

Minister of Women and Child Development Renuka Chowdhury Tuesday came to the rescue of Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, who faces a dowry harassment case, claiming that he had been wrongly charged.

Singh faces the case, registered on a complaint from the father of his granddaughter-in-law Priyanka, though he had denied the charges here Monday.

'This is not fair at all. When he (Arjun Singh) has not even gone for the marriage, how can you charge him,' Chowdhury said on the sidelines of a programme 'Policy framework for Children and AIDS' in collaboration with the ministry of health and Unicef.

'Mr. Arjun Singh is a senior leader and a responsible cabinet minister. It's simple misuse of law,' she said.

Arjun Singh had denied Monday any association with the branch of his family directly implicated in the case. 'It has nothing to do with me. I stay away from family matters,' he had said.

Reacting to the dowry case, Chowdhury said: 'The law will take its own course. But I don't think there is any point dragging the name of the minister into all this mess.'

Madhvendra Singh, whose daughter Priyanka had married Arjun Singh's grandson Abhijit Singh, has alleged that the minister and his family members have been demanding a Mercedes car along with a flat in Noida near Delhi as dowry and have even beaten up his daughter for not giving in to their demands.

He complained to the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) of Chandausi who directed the Moradabad police to register a case of dowry harassment.

The CJM of Moradabad passed orders for the registration of the case July 27. The magistrate directed the police to name Arjun Singh, his wife, his son Abhimanyu Singh, daughter-in-law Beena Singh, sister-in-law Aradhana Singh, grandson Abhijit, brother-in-law Dilip Singh and Dilip's daughter Mandakani Singh as accused in the case.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)