Dowry death strikes at foundation of dignity but no blanket prohibition on bail: Delhi HC
New Delhi, Apr 25 (PTI): Offence of dowry death strikes at the foundations of dignity, equality and justice in domestic life, but there is no blanket prohibition against the grant of bail in such cases, the Delhi High Court has said.
Justice Sanjeev Narula, while granting the relief of bail to a dowry death accused, said the Court was fully conscious of the societal gravity and enduring prevalence of such incidents but a decision of bail must rest on the individual facts and circumstances of each case.
In the present case, the wife of the accused applicant passed away in November 2023 after she allegedly hung herself from a ceiling fan in the bathroom.
Justice Narula observed that the death of a young woman within a year of marriage under unnatural circumstances inevitably invited serious legal scrutiny, but the material on record, in this case, prima facie revealed significant ambiguities and lacked the specificity that section 304B (dowry death) IPC demanded.
"This Court remains fully conscious of the societal gravity and enduring prevalence of dowry deaths. Such offences strike at the foundations of dignity, equality, and justice in domestic life," said the Court in a judgement dated April 22.
"However, the observations (of the Supreme Court) in (the case of) Shabeen Ahmad cannot be read as laying down a blanket prohibition against the grant of bail in every case under Section 304B IPC. Rather, the (top) Court reaffirmed that bail decisions must rest on the individual facts and circumstances of each case, the nature and weight of the evidence, and the overall context in which the allegations are situated," it stated.
In the present case, the Court asserted that the absence of any "proximate allegation" shortly before the death created a doubt, and the statements of the deceased’s family members were devoid of specific details, particularly with respect to the date, time or frequency of the alleged demands.
It added that the alleged demand for a car was mentioned only in the post-incident statements made by the family of the deceased, and there was no contemporaneous complaint during her lifetime alleging harassment or demand for dowry.
With respect to section 306 (abetment of suicide) IPC, the Court said mere suspicion of an extramarital affair did not per se amount to abetment of suicide and prima facie, there was no allegation that the applicant engaged in any behaviour to trigger the deceased’s suicide.
An extramarital relationship per se may not come within the ambit of Section 498-A (cruelty) IPC, it further stated.
Noting that the chargesheet was filed after the completion of the investigation and the trial was unlikely to conclude shortly, the Court opined that the continued incarceration of the applicant would serve no fruitful purpose.
It also observed that the father-in-law and brother-in-law of the deceased had already been discharged, and the sister-in-law, who faced identical charges as the applicant, was on bail.
The Court released the applicant subject to certain conditions and said, "The object of granting bail is neither punitive nor preventative. The primary aim sought to be achieved by bail is to secure the attendance of the accused person at the trial."
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LIVE | Election Results of five states 2026
New Delhi: The countdown has begun for the counting of votes for the Assembly elections in five states that have captured the attention of people across the country.
The counting of votes for the Assembly constituencies of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and the Union Territory of Puducherry will begin simultaneously at 8 am, and the fate of candidates in a total of 824 constituencies will be decided shortly.
The counting of postal ballots will take place first, followed by the counting of EVM votes in several rounds.
► DMK candidate in Thiruchirapalli KN Nehru behind TVK's G Ramamoorthi by 292 votes
► The BJP has taken an early lead in West Bengal, while Mamata Banerjee faces tough competition
► TVK head Vijay leads in Perambur constituency
► M. K. Stalin is leading in Tamil Nadu’s Kolathur constituency.
► AIADMK leader Edappadi K. Palaniswami is leading in Tamil Nadu’s Edappadi constituency
► In Puducherry, BJP is leading in 3 seats.
► In Assam, BJP is leading in 56 seats, while Congress is leading in 12 seats.
► Suvendhu Adhikari leads in both Bhabanipur and Nandigram
► West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee faces setback in Bhabanipur constituency
► Bhupen Borah, who recently left Congress and joined the BJP, is leading in Assam’s Bihpuria constituency
► Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma is leading in Jalukabari constituency
► BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari is leading in West Bengal’s Nandigram constituencyFive-state elections: Postal vote counting begins
► TMC, BJP lead in one seat each in West Bengal
► In Tamil Nadu, DMK leads in 3 constituencies, while TVK leads in 1
► UDF leads in 5 seats in Kerala, BJP in 1, LDF in 1
► BJP leads in 2 seats, AIUDF in 1 in Assam
► AINRC leads in 1 constituency in Puducherry
► TMC leads in 5 seats in West Bengal; Mamata Banerjee’s party maintains initial lead
► Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin leads in Kolathur
► BJP takes early lead in Assam
► Congress-led UDF leads in Kerala
► Tamil Nadu, TVK chief Vijay leads in the Perambur constituency, lags in Tiruchirappalli South
► BJP leads in 10 seats in Assam
► LDF candidate V.P.P. Mustafa leads in the Thrikkaripur Assembly constituency
► Out of 294 seats in West Bengal, BJP is leading in 14 seats, TMC in 12 seats, Congress in 2 seats
► Out of 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, DMK is leading in 15 seats, AIADMK is leading in 5 seats, TVK is leading in 2 seats
► Out of 126 seats in Assam, BJP is leading in 31 seats, Congress in 4 seats, AIUDF in 2 seats.
► Out of 30 seats in Puducherry, NRC+ is leading in 3 seats, Congress in 2 seats, TVK in 1 seat.
► Congress’ Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury suffers a setback in theBerhampore constituency in West Bengal.
