Streedhan — Section 406 IPC · 31 March 2026
Anamika Tiwari & 4 Others v. State of U.P. & Another: A Wife Taking Her Own Streedhan Does Not Commit Criminal Breach of Trust
High Court of Judicature at Allahabad · 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 155
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The parties married in April 2012. The wife later lodged an FIR under Sections 498-A, 323 IPC and the Dowry Prohibition Act alleging demands for additional dowry; a charge sheet followed in December 2018, and in May 2022 a court directed the husband to pay ₹4,000 a month to her and ₹1,000 to their son. The husband separately filed a complaint under Sections 323, 504 and 406 IPC alleging that the wife and others entered his house in September 2018 and took ₹6,400 in cash, ornaments worth about ₹1.5 lakh and household articles. The Magistrate summoned the wife and four others, and they approached the High Court to quash the proceedings.
Justice Chawan Prakash held that property given to a woman before, at or after marriage is her streedhan, does not become joint property of the spouses, and that she may dispose of it as she pleases. A husband may use it in times of distress but has a moral obligation to restore it or its value, and neither he nor other in-laws have control over it. Since the wife is the owner, no offence of criminal breach of trust under Section 406 IPC arose from her taking her ornaments; the Court found the remaining Section 323 and 504 allegations general in nature, observed that the summoning order was passed casually, and quashed the summoning order and all proceedings against the wife and the other applicants.
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