Money Or Any Item Demanded From In-Laws' Will Be Considered As Dowry: SC

New Delhi: Reversing the decision of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, the Supreme Court (SC) has said that demanding money for the construction of a house is a 'dowry demand', which is an offense under Section 304B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

A bench of Chief Justice NV Ramana, Justice AS Bopanna, and Justice Hima Kohli said, the word dowry should be described in a broader sense, so as to include any demand from a woman, irrespective of property, in relation to or of any kind of valuable thing.

The SC overturned a verdict of Madhya Pradesh High Court which had acquitted a husband and father-in-law for dowry death on the ground that the deceased had herself asked her family member to contribute money to construct a house which cannot be treated as a dowry demand.

The husband was demanding money from the deceased woman to build the house, which her family members were unable to provide following which the woman was constantly harassed, and later she committed suicide.

''We are of the view that the trial court has correctly commented on the demand for money collected by the respondents on the deceased for the construction of the house, which falls within the definition of the term dowry. Defendants should not fail to see what they have done. The deceased was constantly tormenting the deceased and asking her to approach her family members for money to build a house and it was only on their persistence and insistence that she was compelled to ask them to contribute some amount for constructing a house,'' it said.

Eventually, the apex court sentenced both husband and father-in-law to seven years' rigorous imprisonment under Section 304-B IPC.

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