Petitioners sought quashing of an F.I.R. under Section 406 IPC for alleged non-return of dowry articles after the death of the wife. The court held that under the Hindu Succession Act, the husband and child are the primary heirs, making the deposition of the student's father untenable.
F.I.R. No.11/2011 and all subsequent proceedings are quashed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
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S.B. Criminal Misc. Petition No.362/2011 Surendra Kumar & Ors. vs. State of Rajasthan & Anr.
DATE OF ORDER : 3.2.2012
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SANDEEP MEHTA
Mr.Rakesh Matoria, for petitioners. Mr.MA Bhurat, PP, for the respondent State. Mr.Mohan Lal, for the respondent no.2.
The present misc. petition has been preferred by the petitioners seeking quashing of F.I.R. No.11/2011 registered against them at P.S. Goluwala, District Hanumangarh for the offence under Section 406 IPC and all proceedings pursuant thereto.
The facts relevant for the disposal of the present petition are that the petitioner no.1 Surendra Kumar was married to Maya, daughter of the respondent no.2, six years prior to the lodging of the FIR. During child birth, Maya unfortunately died and the child so born is admittedly with the petitioner. The complainant lodged impugned FIR which was registered on 15.1.2011 i.e. 15 months after the death of Maya with the allegation that the dowry articles which had been given in the marriage were his property and the petitioners despite a request being made, did not return the same. Thus, the impugned FIR was filed for the offence under Section 406 IPC.
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Assailing the impugned FIR, counsel for the petitioners submits that as per the Hindu Succession Act in the event of death of wife, the husband and child are the legal heirs of the wife for the purpose of succeeding to her property. Thus, he submits that ex-facie the allegations of the prosecution does not disclose the offence under Section 406 IPC. He further submits that the father of the deceased cannot lay any claim to the stridhan of the deceased who met with a natural death.
Learned PP has produced the report of the I.O. as per which during the course of the investigation, it was found that the complainant had given no articles to the accused and that ex-facie the allegations did not disclose the commission of the offence as alleged.
Learned counsel for the complainant submits that the cash amount and the motor cycle given to the accused should be returned back or used for the betterment of the petitioner's child.
The relevant provisions of Hindu Succession Act i.e. Sections 14 and 15, which are necessary for consideration of the controversy involved in the instant misc. petition are quoted herein below :-
“14. Property of a female Hindu to be her
absolute property.— (1) Any property possessed by a female Hindu, whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner.
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Explanation.—In this sub-section, “property” includes both movable and immovable property acquired by a female Hindu by inheritance or devise, or at a partition, or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance, or by gift from any person, whether a relative or not, before, at or after her marriage, or by her own skill or exertion, or by purchase or by prescription, or in any other manner whatsoever, and also any such property held by her as stridhana immediately before the commencement of this Act.
(2) Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to any property acquired by way of gift or under a will or any other instrument or under a decree or order of a civil court or under an award where the terms of the gift, will or other instrument or the decree, order or award prescribe a restricted estate in such property.
15. General rules of succession in the case
of female Hindus .—(1) The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to the rules set out in Section 16,—
(a) firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband;
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in subsection (1),—
(a) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the
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children of any pre-deceased son or daughter), not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the father; and
(b) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or from her father-in-law shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any predeceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in subsection (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the husband.”
From a perusal of the aforesaid provisions, it becomes apparent that in the event of death of Hindu female, her children and husband fall within the category of first heirs. Thus, when the first category of heirs including the petitioner (husband of the deceased) and daughter of the deceased are present, then the father of deceased cannot lay a claim to the property of the deceased.
In the opinion of this Court, the management of the assets, which are the assets of the petitioner no.1's wife, is to be done by the petitioner no.1 himself and it can be expected that the same shall be used for the betterment of the child. Resultantly, this Court is of the view that the allegations levelled in the impugned FIR do not disclose the commission of any offence.
Resultantly, the present misc. petition succeeds. The F.I.R. No.11/2011 registered against the petitioners at P.S. Goluwala, District Hanumangarh and all subsequent
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proceedings pursuant thereto are hereby quashed.
Stay petition also stands disposed of.
(SANDEEP MEHTA), J.
S.Phophaliya
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the F.I.R. alleging failure to return dowry articles after the death of the wife discloses an offence under Section 406 IPC given the Hindu Succession Act rules.
Whether the deceased wife's father can claim the wife's property as stridhan when the husband and child are the legal heirs.
3 provisions across 2 enactments
Surendra Kumar & Ors.
State of Rajasthan
Respondent No.2
SANDEEP MEHTA
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
