The Buyt Desk
Justice Arun Mishra heading 3 judge bench wrote in his judgement – “A daughter always remains a loving daughter. A son is a son until he gets a wife,” and this judgement changed the daughter’s position in parental property. Daughters have equal rights as sons to inherit joint family property.
Even today daughter’s right to parental property is debatable as many are unaware that daughters and sons have equal rights on the parental property. According to Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 daughters are Class I legal heirs of parental property if the father dies intestate(without a will).
Before independence, in Hindu families, it was common for daughters to not get any share in the paternal property. Later in 1956, a new Hindu Succession Law came into existence which made the succession laws look uniform, still favouring the male heirs. This law said women had total ownership over their property but she is not a coparcener in the ancestral property. Just based on gender, women were discriminated against by this Act. Under Article 14 of our constitution, women’s fundamental right to equality was also violated by this Act.
How was this violation rectified?
To correct the discrimination done by the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 against women, a gender-neutral law was formulated and an earlier Act was amended. A new act was passed which gave women the right to their parent’s property and it was called The Hindu Succession Act, 2005. Even section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 was amended to include under the new Act. The New Section6 said that the liabilities and rights in the parental property will be the same for both sons and daughters. The new Act gave all kids, irrespective of their gender, equal rights in parental property.
Supreme Court judgments on daughter’s right in parental property
Over a span of many years, the Indian Supreme Court has given some very critical judgments with respect to this matter and it has changed the law to what it is today regarding a daughter’s right in parental property.
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The first case which triggered the change in the law is the case of Prakash & Ors. vs. Phulavati & Ors. The result of this case was the Amendment Act of 2005 which dealt with the rights of coparceners. It said, as on 9th September 2005, that living daughters of living coparceners had the right to coparcener irrespective of daughters date of birth. This was not applicable to daughters who lost their father before 9th September 2005.
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The next case which questioned this amendment was the case of Danamma vs. Amar Singh. The coparcener who is a father of only girl child passed away before 9th September 2005 and there is partition pending of ancestral property where the dead father is a coparcener. The Supreme Court gave a judgment saying the daughter is entitled to a share in the parent’s ancestral property.
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The judgment of both the cases was contradicting which created confusion regarding the daughter’s right to parental property. The case of Vineeta Sharma vs. Rakesh Sharma & Ors solved this confusion. The judgment of this case gave daughters equal rights like sons in parental property. Section 6-1-A of the amended the Hindu Succession Act of 2005 gives the coparcener an “unobstructed heritage”. Irrespective of whether the father is alive or dead on 9th September 2005 and the gender of the coparcener, a coparcener has a birthright over the ancestral property.
What happens when a Hindu woman dies intestate(without a will)?
Section 15(2) of the Hindu Succession Act, 2005 says that the inherited property of a Hindu female, who dies with no children and intestate, goes back to the source. It means that if a Hindu woman dies intestate and has no children, her inherited property from her parents go to the heirs of her father and her inherited property from her husband’s side of the family goes to the heirs of the husband.
Conclusion
Irrespective of all the laws, one is free to prepare his or her will including all or excluding any of his or her children from inheriting his or her property. In case a Hindu dies intestate, his/her children (both sons and daughters) have the right to an equal share in the parent’s property (self-made or ancestral). The Hindu Succession Act, 2005 gave Hindu daughters equal rights and liability in parent’s property just like sons.
