Husband has no control over wife’s stridhan: Supreme Court

Stridhan is the absolute property of a wife, and her husband has no control over it, the Supreme Court (SC) has ruled. While delivering its order in the Maya Gopinath versus Anoop SB case, a three-Judge Bench of the apex court also said that even though a husband can make use of stridhan in times of distress, he is morally obliged to restore it to his wife later.

While directing the former husband to pay Rs 25 lakh to his wife in return for her lost gold, the top court, while referring to an earlier judgment on the issue, said: “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.”

Stating that the high court failed to notice and appreciate what the counterclaim of the first respondent before the family court was where he demanded the return of a ring and a gold chain gifted by him to the former wife.

“It is well established that gifts made to the bride by the bride’s husband or her parents or by relatives from the side of her husband or parents, at the time of marriage, constitute her stridhan. It was, thus, rightly held by the family court that the first respondent could lay no claim over the same, since there was nothing to suggest that the jewellery was a gift merely temporary in nature, with its return being expected in future,” it said in order dated April 24, 2024.

What is stridhan?

The word Stridhan is made of two Sanskrit words, Stri (woman) and dhan (dhan). That way, the concept covers any wealth accumulated by a woman through the course of her life her private wealth. A woman’s streedhan or woman’s separate property, on which her husband has no claim, includes:

*Her earnings before or after marriage from employment or business.

*Her income from her literary, artistic, or scientific skills.

*Any savings or investment from the above-mentioned earnings.

In case a woman has to part with her separate property, which could be due to some family emergency or her husband or in-laws needing the money, the moveable or immoveable property can be recovered through legal proceedings.