Husband not entitled to claim Stridhan if convicted for murdering wife: Punjab & Haryana High Court

The Punjab & Haryana High Court recently upheld a trial court order which directed a husband who was convicted for murdering his wife to release her Stridhan (dowry articles) to her father. (Sandeep Tomar v. State of Punjab).While doing so, a Bench of Justices MS Ramachandra Rao and Sukhvinder Kaur stated,"The record reveals that she died unnatural death other than in normal circumstances. Thus, the case of the appellant squarely falls within Clause 3 of Section 6 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, so as to maintain the custody of dowry articles with the complainant. The provisions of Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, cannot be overlooked by invoking the provisions of Hindu Law relating to Succession.".The High Court was hearing an appeal filed by the petitioner-husband against the order passed by the trial court in 2015, whereby the dowry articles were ordered to be released to the complainant Ram Naresh Singh, who is the father of the deceased wife..The husband was convicted for murder under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by an Additional Sessions Judge in July 2014, and was sentenced to life in prison.Thereafter, the father of the deceased wife filed an application for release of the dowry articles given by him at the time of the marriage, which was allowed by the Additional Sessions Judge..Before the High Court, counsel for the husband argued that as per Section 15(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, after death of the wife, her belongings shall devolve upon her children and husband..Counsel for the State relied on the Supreme Court's judgments in Balbir Singh v. State of Haryana and State by Belakavadi Police v. Mallesha to contend that the ornaments and articles were given by the complainant to his deceased daughter at the time of marriage, and therefore, he was entitled to receive the same..The High Court said that the case of the husband squarely falls within clause 3 of Section 6 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, so as to maintain the custody of dowry articles with the complainant. Section 6(3) states:"Where the woman entitled to any property under sub-section (1) dies before receiving it, the heirs of the woman shall be entitled to claim it from the person holding it for the time being:-Provided that where such woman dies within seven years of her marriage, otherwise, than due to natural causes, such property shall-(a) if she has no children, transferred to her parents; or (b) if she has children, be transferred to such children and pending such transfer be held in trust for such children.".It held that the trial court rightly placed reliance upon Balbir Singh’s case, wherein it was held that husband was not entitled to retain dowry even if he was acquitted, and dowry articles will remain with father of deceased."But in the instant case the accused husband has been convicted by the trial Court under Section 302 IPC for committing murder of his wife Shweta Singh. So keeping in view the ratio of law laid down in the cases supra also, the impugned order is a legal and valid order," the Court said while dismissing the appeal..[Read order]