SC flags ‘egregious error’ in granting bail in dowry death case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has cancelled the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to a man accused in a dowry death case from Uttar Pradesh, terming the relief “not sustainable in law” and cautioning courts against taking crimes against women “very lightly”.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Vijay Bishnoi allowed the appeal filed by the father of the deceased woman and directed the accused husband to surrender before jail authorities within one week, failing which coercive steps may be taken.

The case relates to the death of a woman, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her matrimonial home in Ghaziabad on July 11, 2024, within seven years of her marriage solemnised in February 2019.

An FIR lodged by the deceased’s father alleged that despite spending over Rs 30 lakh at the time of marriage, including an i20 car, cash, jewellery and household articles, the husband and his family continued demanding an SUV and an additional Rs 10 lakh as dowry.

According to the complaint, the woman was subjected to physical and mental harassment, beaten, abused, and threatened with death over the dowry demands.

The FIR further alleged that shortly before her death, the deceased had informed her father over the phone that her in-laws had been assaulting her and threatening to kill her.

Investigation in the case culminated in a charge sheet against the husband and his parents under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.

The Allahabad High Court had granted bail to the accused husband in August 2025, observing that the cause of death was “asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem hanging” and referring to an alleged delay in lodging the FIR.