Supreme Court of India Judgment

Shabeen Ahmad v. The State of Uttar Pradesh & Anr. (Criminal Appeal No. 1051 of 2025) decided on 03 March 2025 by Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, JJ. Issue for consideration pertains to the correctness of the order passed by the High Court granting bail to in-laws of the deceased wife, charged for causing dowry death.^[125]

The matter involved death of the wife within two years of marriage in suspicious circumstances. Trial court rejected the bail applications, but the High Court granted bail. Held: stricter scrutiny is necessary in such cases. Superficial application of bail parameters risks undermining public confidence in the judiciary. Mechanical approach adopted by the High Court led to cancellation of bail to parents-in-law, while bail to sisters-in-law was upheld. [Paras 11-18]^[126]

Case Law Cited: Ajwar v. Waseem [2024] 5 SCR 575 : (2024) 10 SCC 768 – referred to.^[127]

List of Acts: Penal Code, 1860; Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961.^[128]

Keywords: Bail; Dowry death; Ante-mortem strangulation; Dowry demands; Public confidence; Superficial application; Judiciary’s resolve.^[129]

Case arising from Criminal Appeal No. 1051 of 2025 from order dated 07.05.2024 of the High Court at Allahabad, Lucknow Bench in CRMBA No. 4876 of 2024 with Criminal Appeal Nos. 1054, 1052, and 1053 of 2025.^[130]

Appearances: Advs. for Appellant: Paritosh Pandey, Ms. Rusheet Saluja. Advs. for Respondents: Rohit K. Singh, Ms. Rashmi Singhania, Sanjeev Kumar Sharma, Ms. Shalini Sharma, Yash Singhania.^[131]

Judgment delivered by Vikram Nath, J. – Leave granted.^[132]

Four criminal appeals filed by the Appellant against four orders of the High Court granting bail to accused: Smt. Tara Bano (mother-in-law), Mukhtar Ahmad (father-in-law), Ayasha Khan (sister-in-law), and Saba (sister-in-law). Appeals were considered jointly due to same factual matrix.^[133]

FIR No. 0032/2024 lodged by Appellant (brother of deceased Shahida Bano) alleged continuous dowry harassment by husband and in-laws starting soon after marriage on 07.02.2022.^[134]