Correct Option (A)
As an administrative authority, the primary responsibility is to address grievances impartially, lawfully, and empathetically. Calling the in-laws for an explanation serves as an initial, proactive step to understand both sides of the situation. This approach ensures procedural fairness by allowing all parties to present their perspectives before any formal proceedings are initiated. It demonstrates a serious acknowledgment of the complainant's grievance and allows the administrative authority to engage directly in a mediating or fact-finding role, which is crucial in sensitive cases involving domestic conflict and influential individuals.
Incorrect Options:
Option (B): counsel the lady to adjust, given such a circumstance.
This option is inappropriate and reflects a dereliction of administrative duty. Counselling the complainant to adjust dismisses a serious allegation of dowry harassment, undermines the victim's suffering and agency, and contravenes fundamental principles of gender justice and administrative accountability. Such a response fails to provide the necessary support and recourse to a person seeking protection from harassment.
Option (C): take action after her parents approach you.
This option is unacceptable as it disregards the complainant's autonomy as an adult seeking redress. It ignores the explicitly stated social pressures preventing her parents from approaching the authority, thereby placing an undue and unrealistic burden on the victim. This response constitutes a failure to provide timely administrative relief and delays justice, demonstrating a lack of sensitivity and administrative responsibility.
Option (D): ask her to lodge a complaint with the police.
While asking the complainant to lodge a complaint with the police is a valid and necessary legal recourse for dowry harassment, it may not be the most immediate or comprehensive administrative response in this specific scenario. This action ensures formal documentation and initiation of criminal proceedings under relevant legal provisions. However, as an initial administrative intervention, it might be perceived as a procedural referral rather than a direct engagement. Option (A) allows for preliminary administrative inquiry and potential mediation, which the complainant might be seeking from the administrative authority before formal legal action, thus offering a more proactive and integrated approach to the grievance at an early stage.