By S&S Co. Advocates & Solicitors · Published 28 September 2026 · Informational content, not legal advice: see our disclaimer
Overview
A practical guide for a wife (or her family) seeking to recover streedhan gifted before, during or after marriage from a husband or in-laws after separation or divorce, distinct from this site's existing broader family-law and domestic-violence guides, focused specifically on what streedhan is and how it is recovered.
What You Need to Know
- Streedhan refers to property, cash, jewellery, gifts and other assets, given to a woman before her marriage, at the time of her marriage, during childbirth, or at any other time, by her parents, relatives, friends or the husband's side, and is legally her own separate property, not joint marital property
- The Supreme Court has consistently held, since Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar, that a wife is the absolute owner of her streedhan and can deal with it as she pleases; if it is entrusted to her husband or in-laws for safekeeping, they hold it only as trustees and must return it on demand
- Because streedhan remains the wife's exclusive property under Section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, read with Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, it is not subject to division as matrimonial property in a divorce, and a husband retaining it after separation has no independent title over it
- A wife seeking to recover streedhan retained by her husband or in-laws can pursue a civil suit for recovery of property, seek its return as ancillary relief under Section 27 of the Hindu Marriage Act in matrimonial proceedings, or invoke the criminal remedy for criminal breach of trust where the property was entrusted and dishonestly retained
- A claimant should maintain and be ready to produce evidence of the streedhan actually given, wedding photographs and videos, gift lists, jewellery valuation/insurance records, and witness testimony from family members, since disputes over streedhan often turn on proving what was actually given, not on the legal principle itself, which is well settled in the wife's favour
- A woman does not lose her right to streedhan by delay in demanding its return, and the right to recover it survives even after a decree of divorce, since it was never marital property to begin with
Frequently Asked Questions
Is streedhan the same as joint marital property?
No: streedhan is the wife's own absolute property (gifts, jewellery and assets received before, during or after marriage), distinct from any jointly-owned marital assets, and the husband and in-laws have no independent right over it.
How does a wife actually recover streedhan withheld by her husband or in-laws?
Through a civil suit for recovery, or in appropriate cases as part of relief sought under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, alongside any criminal complaint over its wrongful withholding.
Does a wife need to prove the exact monetary value of each item to claim streedhan?
Courts have generally allowed reasonably specific, itemised claims based on customary gifts and family circumstances, though vague, unparticularised claims are harder to sustain: an itemised list strengthens the claim considerably.
References & Further Reading
This guide references the following statutes, rules and sources, cross-checked at the time of writing.
- Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar doctrine of wife's absolute ownership of streedhan, husband/in-laws as trustees: well-settled Supreme Court precedent, confirmed via Lawctopus, KSandK and multiple practitioner sources at research time
- Section 14 Hindu Succession Act / Section 27 Hindu Marriage Act as the statutory basis preserving streedhan as separate property: confirmed via Outlook Money and Lexology explainers at research time
- Criminal breach of trust (formerly Section 406 IPC) as an available remedy for dishonest retention of entrusted streedhan: well-settled at research time: verify the corresponding Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section number against the current statute before citing it in the final guide
- See also our Family Law Notable Judgments and Legal Updates: Family Law archive.