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Krishna Bhattacharjee v. Sarathi Choudhury & Anr.

Criminal Appeal · Neutral citation not assigned (Criminal Appeal No. 1545 of 2015)Decided 20 Nov 2015
Criminal Appeal No. 1545 of 2015
Justice Dipak Misra · Justice Prafulla C. Pant

Background

This order sends the case back; it does not decide the dispute. A wife applied under Section 12 of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 for the return of her stridhan. The Magistrate, the Additional Sessions Judge and the High Court of Tripura had ruled against her.

Decision Breakdown

This is not a final decision on the dispute. The Court allowed the appeal and set aside all three orders. It held that a wife does not cease to be an aggrieved person merely because a decree of judicial separation has been granted, and that a claim for return of stridhan is a continuing cause of action, so it was not time-barred. It sent the matter back to the Magistrate to proceed with the application on merits.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet on the stridhan claim itself. A decree of judicial separation does not stop a wife from being an aggrieved person under the 2005 Act.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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