Know all about Stridhan and How to fight against false claims of wife..!!

Stridhan is a combination of two Sanskrit words ‘Stri=Woman’ and ‘Dhan=Wealth’ which put together means ‘Woman’s property’. Stridhan is a traditional property right of Hindu women accepted by Indian Hindu Society.Stridhan ensures a women’s economic independence.
Except for a few restrictions during coverture, a Hindu woman is the absolute owner of her stridhan.Any dues from her can also be recovered from her stridhan.Also, a woman who does not wish to accept stridhan cannot be forced to do so; she can choose to accept or reject the gifts given to her as part of the stridhan.Usually stridhan is passed from a mother to her daughters as per her wishes but as the sole owner of her stridhan a woman can will it away as she pleases.On her intestate death, all types of Stridhan, devolved upon her heirs in the following order:

1. upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband,
2. upon the heirs of the husband.
3. upon the heirs of the father, and
4. upon the heirs of the mother.

Under all the schools of Hindu Law payments made to a Hindu female in lump sum or periodically for her maintenance and all the arrears of such maintenance constitute stridhan. It also includes property inherited by the woman from her family or husband’s family; property received by her under a compromise, adverse possession or in lieu of maintenance as long as she doesn’t merely enjoy a restricted estate in the said property; property obtained in partition; and property bought  with savings or accumulations of stridhan or using proceeds from stridhan is stridhan. Property acquired by a woman by mechanical arts or by her own exertions during maidenhood, subsistence of marriage and during widowhood is Stridhan.
However, gifts to the husband by the woman or her relatives before,during and after the wedding are not part of her stridhan. Also the Dayabhaga School doesn’t recognize gifts of immovable property by a husband to his wife as stridhan.Also a woman’s inheritance of ancestral property forms her woman’s estate or widow’s estate and is not stridhan.
Stridhan has all the characteristics of absolute ownership of property. The stridhan being her absolute property, a woman has full rights of its alienation. This means that she can sell,gift, mortgage, lease, and exchange her property,in part or whole. This is entirely true when she is a maiden or a widow. Some restrictions are recognised on her power of alienation, if she is a married woman. For a married woman stridhan falls under two heads:
• The saudayika (gifts of love and affection)- gifts  received by a woman from relations on both sides (parents and in-laws).
• The non-saudayika- all other types of stridhan such as gifts from stranger, property acquired by self-exertion or the  mechanical arts.
Over the former she has full rights of disposal but over the latter she has no right of alienation without the consent of her husband during coverture. During the pendency of the marriage he has the right to it’s equal use.On the woman’s death it passes on to her heirs.
A woman’s right to her stridhan is protected under law.This comes in handy in case of  matrimonial discord as a woman can have her stridhan or its value returned to her. In the case of Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar, 1985 (2) SCC 370 the Supreme Court of India held that “a Hindu married woman is the absolute owner of her stridhan property and can deal with it in any manner she likes and, even if it is placed in the custody of her husband or her in-laws they would be deemed to be trustees and bound to return the same if and when demanded by her”.The position of stridhan of a Hindu married woman’s property during coverture is absolutely clear and unambiguous; she is the absolute owner of such property and can deal with it in any manner she likes-she may spend the whole of it or give it away at her own pleasure by gift or will without any reference to her husband. Ordinarily, the husband has no right or interest in it with the sole exception that in times of extreme distress, as in famine, illness or the like, the husband can utilize it but he is morally bound to restore it or its value when he is able to do so. This right is purely personal to the husband and the property so received by him in marriage cannot be proceeded against even in execution of a decree for debt, such being the nature and character of stridhan of a woman.If her husband or any other member of his family who is in possession of such property, dishonestly misappropriates or refuses to return the same, they may be liable to punishment for the offence of criminal breach of trust under sections 405 and 406 IPC. The offence of criminal breach of trust is punishable with imprisonment up to 3 years or fine or both.It is a cognizable, compoundable (up to Rs.250 only) and a non-bailable offence.
While the laws give Hindu women the means to be economically independent,due to ignorance of the law and a of  lack of knowledge on how to move the courts women frequently lose out on their Stridhan.The following  precautionary steps will ensure a woman will  keep most of her stridhan  in case of  a break down in her marriage.

• She should make a list of the gifts and/or properties received before, during and after marriage from her family,  husband’s family, friends and other acquaintances.
• She should keep evidence for the gifts received  such as wedding pictures. Also, ensure that the gifts and their bills are in her name and preserve these bills.
• She should have witnesses – statements of witnesses will be important evidence – for gifts of movables (including jewellery) at the time of marriage.
• She should maintain a separate account in her name  for her salary.
• She should get involved in the family financial decision-making and keep a record of bank accounts and the investments made out of her stridhan.
• She should ensure that the title to the property given to her  and those bought from her  stridhan are clear and that the investments made from these assets are in her name.
• She should open a bank locker in her name for storing jewellery and instruments of money, property and so on.
• It’s advisable for her parents to gift her income-generating property, rather than expensive consumer items which are difficult to account for.

http://wealthymatters.com/2011/08/31/stridhan/


Legal Evidence is required to claim stridhan:


PETITIONER: R. P. KAPUR
Vs.
RESPONDENT: THE STATE OF PUNJAB
DATE OF JUDGMENT: 25/03/1960
BENCH: SHAH, J.C.
BENCH: SHAH, J.C.
SINHA, BHUVNESHWAR P.(CJ)
IMAM, SYED JAFFER
SARKAR, A.K.
GUPTA, K.C. DAS
CITATION:
1960 AIR  862                          1960 SCR  (3) 311
CITATOR INFO :
R             1975 SC 706           (16)
ACT:
Criminal Trial–Quashing of Proceedings -Inherent power of High   Court–When   to    be exercised–Code   of   Criminal Procedure, 1898 (V of 1898), s. 561-A.
HEADNOTE:

1. Subsequently the High Court dismissed the  petition. K obtained special leave and appealed: Held   that  no case for quashing the proceedings  was made
2. The     following  are            some

categories  of cases where the inherent  jurisdiction  could and should be exercised to quash proceedings:
(i)  where there was a legal bar against the institution  or continuance of the proceedings;
(ii)  where the allegations in the first information  report or complaint   did not make out the offence alleged; and
(iii)where  either  there was no legal evidence adduced  in support of  the charge or the evidence adduced clearly  or manifestly failed to prove the charge.

1. In  exercising its jurisdiction under s. 561-A of  the        Code the  High Court cannot embark upon an enquiry as to  whether the evidence in the case is reliable or not . In the present

case  there  was  no legal bar to  the      institution  of     the proceedings or to their continuance; the allegations made in the  first  information report did constitute  the  offences alleged        and it could not be contended that on the  face  of the record the charge was unsustainable.

1. Govind  Bhandhu

Majumdar,  A.I.R. 1924 Cal. 1018 and Ramanathan Chettiar  v. K.  Sivarama Subrahmanya Ayyar, (1924) I.L.R. 47  Mad.    722, referred to. S.P. Jaiswal v. The State, (1953) 55 Punj.  L.R. 77, distin- guished,
389
JUDGMENT:
CRIMINAL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Criminal Appeal No. 217 of 1959.
Appeal by special leave from the judgment and order dated September  10,      1959 of the Punjab High           Court  in  Criminal Misc. No. 559 of 1959.
Appellant in person.

1. M. Sikri,   Advocate-General for the State of  Punjab, Mohinder Singh Punnan, T. M. Sen and D. Gupta, for the respondent.
2. When the appellant found that  for several months no further action was taken on the said First Information Report which was hanging like a sword over  his  head he filed a criminal complaint on  April     1, 1959,  against Mr. Sethi under ss. 204, 211 and 385  of the Indian            Penal  Code and thus took upon himself the  onus  to
3. After hearing arguments the learned Magistrate ordered  that the appellant’s  complaint  should stand adjourned.
4. Pending the hearing of the said petition in          the
5. It is against this order that the appellant has come to this Court by special leave, 50 390

1. Earnest money was accordingly paid to the vendors and it was agreed that the sale had to be  completed
2. Some of the persons concerned in the said lands filed
3. That is how the title of the lands in question passed to Mrs. Kaushalya Devi. The First Information Report filed by Mr. Sethi alleges that

he  and the  appellant were friends  and  that     on  January 4,1958,     the appellant dishonestly and fraudulently  advised him-to  purchase 2,000 sq. yds. of land in Khasra  Nos. 22, 23,  24 and 25 in the aforesaid village Mohammadpur  Munirka on the representation that as owner of the land in the area Mr. Sethi would get a plot of desired dimensions in the same area  developed by the Ministry under its  housing  scheme.
The  appellant also represented to Mr. Sethi,  according  to the First Information Report, that since under the scheme no person would, be allotted more than one 391 plot he would have to surrender a part of his land; that  is why  as a friend he was prepared to give to Mr.  Sethi one plot at the price at which it had been purchased.  According to Mr. Sethi the appellant dictated an application which  he was  advised  to send to the Secretary of  the Ministry  of Works  and  he accordingly sent it as  advised. The  First

1. Sethi stated            that  he would have liked to add one clause  to  the deed to the effect that in the event of the authorities not accepting the sale for the purpose of allotment, the  amount
2. The appellant urged before the Punjab High  Court
3. The question which arises for our  decision in the present appeal is: Was the Punjab         High Court  in  error  in  refusing           to  exercise  its   inherent
4. jurisdiction  under  s.561 -A of the Code in favour  of    the appellant ?
5. It  is  well-established          that  the   inherent jurisdiction  of  the High Court can be exercised  to  quash
6. However,  we may  indicate    some categories of cases where the inherent jurisdiction can       and
7. Cases may also arise where the a11egations in the First Information Report or the complaint, even if they      are taken at their face value and accepted in their entirety, do not  constitute the offence alleged; in such cases no  qu es-

tion of appreciating evidence arises; it is a matter  merely of looking at the complaint or the First Information  Report to  decide whether the offence alleged is disclosed or          not.

1. In cases falling under this  category  the  allegations made against the accused person do constitute an

offence alleged  but  there is   either no  legal  evidence adduced  in support of the case or evidence adduced  clearly or  manifestly fails to prove the charge.  In  dealing with this  class  of cases it is important to bear  in  mind the distinction between a case where there is no legal  evidence or  where there is evidence which is manifestly and  clearly inconsistent with the accusation made and cases where  there
is  legal evidence which on its appreciation may or may     not support    the  accusation  in question. In  exercising         its jurisdiction under s. 561-A the High Court would not  embark upon  an enquiry as to whether the evidence in       question  is

1. That is the function of the trial  magistrate,         and ordinarily it would not be open to any party  to invoke            the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction and’  contend that  on  a  reasonable appreciation  of  the  evidence            the  accusation made against the accused would not be  sustained. Broadly stated that is the nature and scope of the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court under s. 561-A in the matter of quashing

394

1. 452  of the  Code and it does appear from the judgment of  the   High Court that the learned judge elaborately considered all       the
2. It is,  however,  clear from  the  judgment  that the learned judge  was  very            much

impressed  by  the fact that the police    had  reported   that there  was no case or at the most only a  technical  offence against  Jaiswal but the district magistrate had  interfered

1. Besides, in    the opinion       of  the  learned judge the evidence  on  which   the prosecution relied showed that the essential ingredients  of
2. It  is
3. We have merely referred to the  relevant  findings recorded by

(1)  A.I.R. 1928 Bom. 184.
(2)  (1954) 56 Punjab L.R. 54.
(3)  (1924) I.L.R. 27 Mad. 722.
(4)  (1899) I.L.R. 26 Cal. 786.
(5)  A.I.R. 1924 Cal. 1018.
(6)  (1953) 55 Punjab L.R 77.
395

1. His argument,  however, is that the evidence on  record  clearly and  unambiguously  shows that the allegations made  in      the First Information Report are untrue; he also contends that ” certain powerful influences have been operating against          him with  a       view  to  harm him and    debar  him  officially     and
2. Sethi  against him”.            In this connection he has naturally placed  emphasis on  the        fact that the investigating agency has     acted   with

extraordinary  dilatoriness  in     the  matter  and  that    for several       months the police did not make the report under  s. 173 of the Code.
It  is true that though the complaint against the  appellant is  essentially    very  simple  in  its       nature   the   police authorities  did  not  make their report  for  nearly  seven

1. months after the First Information Report was   lodged.   We have already indicated how the appellant was driven to file. a complaint on his own charging Mr. Sethi with having  filed a  false First Information Report against him, and  how           the

Report  in question was filed after the appellant moved   the High
396

1. It is perhaps likely that the appellant being the senior-most  Commissioner  in the punjab  the  investigating authorities may have been cautious and circumspect in taking further      steps on the First Information Report; but  we  are
2. Even  so  it  is

difficult to see how this conduct on the part of the  police officers  can materially assist the appellant in his  prayer that  the  proceedings which have now reached  the  criminal

1. court should be quashed. We must, therefore, now proceed to consider the       appellant’s
2. 20,000  as a  result  of      the  several misrepresentations alleged in the First Information  Report.

1. Sethi any information about the pendency  of         the proceedings  before  the  Collector,  and  fraudulently         re-
2. According  to the   appellant,   if        the correspondence            on  the  record  is  considered,  and      the
3. We   are anxious not to express

397

1. We  would, however, like to emphasise that in rejecting the appellant’s prayer          for  quashing the proceedings at this stage  we   are expressing no opinion one way or the other on the merits  of the case.
2. The appellant has            come to this Court under Art. 136 of the  constitution against the decision  of the Punjab High Court; and the High  Court   has
3. Under the  circumstances  of

this case we are unable to answer this question in favour of the appellant.
Appeal dismissed.


Recent case Laws:

Rajkumar Patni vs Smt. Manorama Patni on 14 July, 2000

Wife has sued her husband for return of her Stridhan property in specie, or in the alternatively its value which ... also the property which according to her is her Stridhan property which is in custody and possession of her husband 

Ors vs Vinita Sethia on 5 July, 2013

present petitioners showing seizure of six items as 'stridhan' properties from the premises of the present petitioners. After about three ... investigation of the case as a major portion of 'stridhan' properties could not be recovered during earlier investigation and prayed 

Important Sections Under Income Tax Act to fight false claims: 


1. Use RTI to get the information about your FIL/MIL/BIL or whoever is claiming that he has invested such amount on the particulars that whether he/she has paid ITR for such amount during such financial year or not.



2. Your RTI letter should be addressed to PIO of Income Tax office of his jurisdiction.



3. If you get satisfactory information then write a letter
To,The Central /State Public Information Officer or Assistant Public Information Officer attaching the RTI letter with it.



4.Your petition should be well clear that you have got the information from Income tax department only and now you need an inquiry for such act.The Reason should be well written in the format and you should also write your case No. and how your In-laws are blackmailing and harassing you with false claims.You should also write that they should be sued and Tax should be recovered.



5. Following are the few important sections of Income Tax Act through which they are legally bound to answer and investigate and sue them for their illegal deeds.



U/S 68, 69, 69A & B, 69C & D and section 133(5) of Income Tax Act, 1961 are applicable

Section 68 of Income Tax Act, 1961 deals with cash credits proving identity of the creditor, capacity of the creditor, genuineness of the transaction are the important things of this section.

Section 69, 69A & 69B of Income Tax Act, 1961, deals with unexplained investment, unexplained money & investment not fully disclosed in books of accounts.

Section 69C, of Income Tax Act, 1961deals with the unexplained expenditure, the important requirement of this section is that an expenditure has been found to have been incurred by an assessee in any financial year and the assesses fails to indicate satisfactory source of such expenditure.

Section 133(5) , of Income Tax Act, 1961 it is mandatory to file income tax return on the expenditure incurred on any function or ceremony

 

Compiled By (ESIS)