How court dismisses 406 IPC…

The essential ingredient of 406 IPC is entrustment of dowry articles with proof of possession.

The allegation of entrustment should be present in the FIR.

The wife should be able to produce the proof of ownership. I.e Bills and photographs.

As regards section 406 IPC, it be observed that in order to establish the commission of offence u/s 406 IPC the necessary ingredient of section 405 IPC are to be proved. Hence, it is necessary for the prosecution to prove the entrustment having been made in favour of accused, his dominion/control over the articles entrusted and subsequent misappropriation. The misappropriation tantamount to conversion of articles by the accused to their own use and consumption.

In Jaswant Lal Vs. State AIR 1968 SC 700, the Hon’ble Supreme Court laid down that entrustment is an essential ingredient of an offence u/s 406 IPC. In Reshan Lal Vs. State AIR 1983 SC 631, Hon’ble Supreme Court held that proof of entrustment is an essential ingredient of the offence. Similarly, in Ram Narayan Vs. CBI 2003 (3) SCC 641, Hon’ble Supreme Court, held that no constitute an offence of criminal breach of trust, there must be an entrustment. As such, entrustment is one of the essential ingredients for the offence u/s 406 IPC.

If complainant has stated that in the Women Cell, accused had submitted the admitted list of her dowry articles bearing signature of accused and her signatures . However, the admissions made by the accused in CAW Cell are not binding on him. The proceedings at CAW Cell are conciliatory in nature. Any views, suggestions and admissions made by either party in a CAW Cell cannot be relied upon as evidence.(see Vinod Sharma vs. State in Crl. R.EV.P. 720/2007 decided on 11th July, 2011).

he aforesaid, even the basic requirement of entrustment having been made in favour of the accused is not established. Moreover, the IO clearly stated in his cross examination that the complainant failed to accompany him to the house of the accused for recovery of Istridhan despite his repeated efforts to take her along with him for recovery of Istridhan. She was not available whenever he visited her for taking her for recovery of Istridhan. The prosecution has not explained the reluctance of complainant in identifying and recovering her Istridhan.

In judgment of Neera Singh Vs. State (Govt. of NCT of Delhi) and others, 138 (2007), DLT 152, the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi observed the mandate of for preparation of list of dowry articles at the time of marriage duly signed from bride side as well as from groom side, in terms of provision of 2 of Dowry Prohibition Act. Further, the increasing trend of making exaggerated claims by the complainant and his family regarding Istridhan given to the complainant was also noticed. To curb the same, it was held that the complainant and her family members, are bound to disclose the source of such expenditure on marriage.

Advocate Nitish Banka