{"id":35321,"date":"2026-11-04T05:14:27","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T05:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/?p=35321"},"modified":"2026-11-04T05:19:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T05:19:15","slug":"the-stridhan-inventory-trap-defeating-fabricated-gold-lists-under-section-316-bns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.legalserviceindia.com\/Legal-Articles\/the-stridhan-inventory-trap-defeating-fabricated-gold-lists-under-section-316-bns\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stridhan Inventory Trap: Defeating Fabricated Gold Lists Under Section 316 BNS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/span>The Stridhan Inventory Trap: How to Challenge False Gold Claims Under Section 316 BNS<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

<\/span>Abstract<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In matrimonial litigation an unverified \u201cstridhan inventory\u201d is increasingly deployed not merely to claim property but to trigger a police notice, an arrest threat, a bail objection and, finally, a coercive settlement. A wife\u2019s ownership of stridhan is beyond dispute, and the defence must never contest it. What is not automatic is criminal liability under Section 316 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (\u201cBNS\u201d). The Supreme Court\u2019s own decisions, from Pratibha Rani (1985) to Mulakala Malleshwara Rao (2024), show that the offence stands or falls on specific entrustment, dishonest misappropriation, particularised attribution to each accused, and demand followed by dishonest refusal. This article assembles those authorities, confronts the adverse ones candidly, maps the evidentiary and procedural response under the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (\u201cBNSS\u201d) \u2014 including the Supreme Court\u2019s January 2026 ruling on Section 35 \u2014 and supplies a defence matrix and checklists for chamber use.<\/p>

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