The Bench of Justice Sanjiv khanna and Justice Dipankar Dutta in case of Maya Gopinathan versus Anoop, 2024 INSC 334, has reiterated that stridhan is the absolute property of wife and husband has no title or independent dominion over the property as owner.
Earlier in this matter appellant/wife had initiated civil proceedings seeking return of money equivalent to her stridhan property which stood lost forever. The appellant/wife was gifted 89 sovereigns of gold by her family and a sum of rupees two lakh were also given to her husband. The appellant/wife filed a petition for the recovery of the value of the jewellery and the amount given to her husband.
Reliance was placed on Rashmi Kumar vs. Mahesh Kumar Bhada, (1997) 2 SCC 397 and Pratibha Rani vs. Suraj Kumar, (1985) 2 SCC 370. It was stated that “the properties gifted to a woman before marriage, at the time of marriage or at the time of bidding of farewell or thereafter are her stridhan properties. It is her absolute property with all rights to dispose at her own pleasure. The husband has no control over her stridhan property. He may use it during the time of his distress but nonetheless he has a moral obligation to restore the same or its value to his wife. Therefore, stridhan property does not become a joint property of the wife and the husband and the husband has no title or independent dominion over the property as owner thereof.”
