Explained: Supreme Court's Ruling of Daughters' Inheritance Of Unwilled Property

The Supreme Court of India has proclaimed that daughters are entitled to inheritance of unwilled property of their fathers. The Court has declared that if a Hindu male dies intestate, his daughters are entitled to inherit his self-acquired and other inherited properties, giving them priority over other family members.

A Bench led by Justice S Abdul Nazeer and Justice Krishna Murari said, ¡°If a property of a male Hindu dying intestate (without a will) is a self-acquired property or obtained in the partition of a coparcenary or a family property, the same would devolve by inheritance and not by survivorship, and a daughter of such a male Hindu would be entitled to inherit the property in preference to other collaterals (such as sons/daughters of brothers of deceased father),¡±

Why this ruling?

The decision came in response to a petition contesting a Madras High Court decision on Hindu women's and widows' property rights under the Hindu Succession Act, notably the right of a daughter to inherit her father's self-acquired property in the absence of any other legal heir.

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In the absence of any other legal heirs, the daughters of a male Hindu who dies without signing a will are entitled to inherit the father's self-acquired and other goods and receive priority over other collateral members of the family, the Supreme Court declared on Thursday.

Inheritance laws for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains are governed by Hindu Succession Act of 1956

The act lays down laws with regard to inheritance in different cases. Daughter along with other Class I heirs, are first contenders for the inheritance of the deceased person. Sons, daughters, widows,mother and grandchildren of the deceased are class 1 heir.

All the property left by a deceased person would be equally divided among all the present Class I heirs. For example, a man dies leaving behind two children, a mother, and a wife. As per the act, his property will be equally divided among these four people. An important aspect of this act is the fact that these laws are applicable only if the person dies without a will. In case of a will being made by the deceased before his death, the inheritance shall pass on as per the will and not the act.

What led to this decision

The Supreme Court was hearing the case regarding a property dispute involving Marappa Gounder, who died in 1949 and left behind a daughter, Kupayee Ammal, who died without a child in 1967. Ramasamy Gounder, Marappa's brother, was survived by a son Gurunatha Gounder and four daughters. Thangammal, one of the four daughters, had filed a lawsuit claiming a fifth portion of Marappa Gounder's property.

AFP

After reviewing the evidence presented by the parties, the trial court concluded that Marappa Gounder died before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 took effect, and that Thangammal and her other sisters were not his heirs as of the date of his death, and thus were not entitled to a 1/5th share in the suit properties. On March 1, 1994, the court dismissed Thangammal's lawsuit. On January 21, 2009, the High Court dismissed the appeal against the trial court's decision.

The supreme court however upheld the application of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 to the question of succession in the case that was first opened after Kupayee Ammal's death in 1967. Thangammal, the appellant, is thereafter defined as an heir and is entitled to one-fifth of the bequest.

The ruling further said that If a female Hindu dies intestate and without children, the property she acquired from her father or mother will pass to the father's heirs. And any property she got from her husband or father-in-law would be distributed to the husband's heirs.

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A two-judge bench of Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari noted that ¡°right of a widow or daughter to inherit the self-acquired property or share received in partition of a coparcenary property of a Hindu male dying intestate is well recognised not only under the old customary Hindu Law¡± but also under previous judicial pronouncements.

It further added, ¡°if a property of a male Hindu dying intestate is a self-acquired property or obtained in partition of a coparcenary or a family property, the same would devolve by inheritance and not by survivorship, and a daughter of such a male Hindu would be entitled to inherit such property in preference to other collaterals¡±.

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