State of U.P. v. Ajmal Beg

2025 INSC 1435

Court: Supreme Court of India (Criminal Appellate Jurisdiction)
Case: Criminal Appeal Nos. 132-133 of 2017
Decided: 15 December 2025
Bench: Sanjay Karol, Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh (judgment by Sanjay Karol, J.)
Citation: 2025 INSC 1435
Provisions: Indian Penal Code, 1860, s. 304B (now Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, s. 80) read with Indian Evidence Act, 1872, s. 113B (now Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023) and Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961, s. 2

Headnote

Dowry death · IPC s. 304B (BNS s. 80) · Evidence Act s. 113B presumption (now BSA) · Soon before her death · Meaning of dowry · Appeal against acquittal

The case, in the Court's words

These appeals are at the instance of the State of Uttar Pradesh, laying challenge to a judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad [...] entering a finding of acquittal of the respondents herein, setting aside the judgment and order dated 7th October 2003, of conviction returned by the Additional Sessions Judge, Bijnor [para 1]

Held

In our view, the expression “soon before her death” cannot be given a restricted or a narrower meaning. They must be understood in their plain language and with reference to their meaning in common parlance. [...] We are of the considered view that the concept of reasonable time is the best criteria to be applied for appreciation and examination of such cases. [...] In other words, there should be a reasonable, if not direct, nexus between her death and the dowry-related cruelty or harassment inflicted on her. [para 14]
read along with Section 113-B of the Evidence Act, 1872 makes it clear that once the prosecution has succeeded in demonstrating that a woman has been subjected to cruelty or harassment for or in connection with any demand for dowry soon before her death, a presumption shall be drawn against the said persons that they have caused dowry death as contemplated under Section [...] The said presumption comes with a rider inasmuch as this presumption can be rebutted by the accused on demonstrating during the trial that all the ingredients of Section [...] have not been satisfied. [para 14]
The expression “soon before her death”, as explained in Ashok Kumar (supra) would, in the considered view of this Court, be met and all the essentials, as noted in Pavan Kumar (supra) would be satisfied. Here itself, it may then be noted that the presumption under Section 113-B of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 came into effect as soon as it stood proved that the deceased had been subjected to cruelty soon before her death, and went unrebutted by the defence, since no evidence was led by them. [para 20]
When the harassment for dowry is proved and so is the fact that such harassment was made soon before her death, then a mere statement of one of the witnesses that she was apparently happy, would not save the Respondents from guilt. [para 22]
It is clear from the above that any property or valuable security given by either party to a marriage to the other, or by any other person to the party to marriage, or to any other person, on the day of marriage, before or at any time after marriage, shall be considered to be dowry. [para 23]

Result

The State’s appeals, therefore, deserve to be allowed. The judgment of the Trial Court, insofar as it relates to the conviction of both Ajmal and Jamila, is restored, as also the [...] quantum of sentence in respect of Ajmal is concerned. [para 24]

Editorial note: subsequent treatment

A December 2025 judgment setting aside a High Court acquittal. It applies Ashok Kumar v. State of Haryana (2010) 12 SCC 350 and Pawan Kumar v. State of Haryana (1998) 3 SCC 309, and quotes the three-Judge Bench judgment in Devender Singh v. State of Uttarakhand (2022) 13 SCC 82 on the presumption (held 2 is that quoted passage). It also issues directions on awareness and expeditious disposal of dowry cases (para 26).

The headnote consists of extracts from the Court's judgment, selected by The Daily Bench for convenience. The selection is not part of the judgment, is not a law report and should not be cited. It may contain errors; rely on the official judgment. Library reference TDB-LL BNS-80/05 is our own cataloguing label and is not a citation.