The Supreme Court of India recently ruled that daughters have equal rights to their father’s property. This rule applies even before the implementation of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956. The court delivered this verdict during a case concerning a property dispute of a person who passed away in 1949 and left behind a daughter who also passed away childless in 1967. Initially, the trial court held that the sisters of the deceased were not considered heirs as their deaths occurred before the enforcement of the HSA. This decision was later upheld by the High Court.
Daughters Inheritance and Ancient Texts & Judicial Pronouncements
According to the recent ruling, in a situation where a man dies without a will, and his only surviving relative is a daughter, she is entitled to his property, not other relatives such as his brother. The Supreme Court has earlier expanded women’s right to be coparceners (joint legal heirs) and inherit ancestral property equally with male heirs in 2020. The court also referred to ancient texts (smritis), quotes from various scholars, and previous judicial pronouncements supporting the rights of female heirs.
Tracing the Origins of Hindu Law on Inheritance
The court detailed the sources of customary Hindu law on inheritance and discussed the Mitakshara law, which is one of the schools of Hindu law. The Supreme Court also examined Vyavastha Chandrika, a digest of Hindu Law by Shyama Charan Sarkar Vidya Bhushan, which stated that wives and daughters are considered successors to a man’s wealth.
Old Law and Understanding Property After Woman’s Death
A widow or daughter’s right to inherit the self-acquired property or share received in the division of a joint family property of a Hindu male dying without a will is not only recognised under the old customary Hindu Law. The court also declared that if a Hindu woman dies intestate and childless, the property inherited from her parents would belong to the heirs of her father, while the property inherited from her husband or father-in-law would go to the husband’s heirs.
Reflection on Land Rights and Women in India
In India, property is predominantly passed on to male heirs, consequently depriving women of financial independence and entrepreneurship. There are doubts about a woman’s ability to access and control property, even if it’s legally hers. According to the National Family Health Survey-5, 43% of female respondents reported owning house/land alone or jointly. A 2020 University of Manchester working paper found barely 16% of women in rural landowning households own land.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
The Mitakshara school of Hindu law, codified as the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, governed succession and inheritance but only recognised males as legal heirs. However, the 1956 Act was amended in 2005 to recognise women as coparceners for property divisions arising since then.
Schools of Hindu Laws
The two prominent schools of Hindu law, Mitakshara and Dayabhaga, define property inheritance differently. The Mitakshara law school, prevalent in most parts of India, gives an interest in ancestral property to a son by birth. The Dayabhaga law school, observed in Bengal and Assam, only grants ownership rights after the father’s death.