Last Updated on January 6, 2024 by News Desk
The Karnataka High Court has ruled that legal heirs of a daughter are entitled to an equal share of family properties, even if the daughter had passed away before the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act. The court dismissed a plea filed by Channabasappa Hosmani, questioning the trial court’s order and refusing to amend the preliminary decree, which granted equal shares to the legal heirs of pre-deceased daughters.
The petitioners argued that the effect of amended Section 6 of the Act was prospective, and since the daughters Nagavva and Sangavva died before the amendment, the legal heirs of Nagavva and Sangavva were not entitled to equal share. They also argued that the Act created a new right per legal heirs of daughters and its provisions were not expressly made retrospective by the Legislature.
The court relied on the Apex court order in the case of Vineetha Sharma vs. Rakesh Sharma and others (2020) and held that because of the amendment to Section 6 of the Act, a daughter would step into the coparcenary as that of a son by taking birth before or after the commencement Act. The court held that the right of a daughter subsists if the joint family and ancestral properties are intact, regardless of when such daughters were born.
The court opined that such denial of equal rights to legal heirs may not only be considered discriminatory but could also be subject to legal challenges as it goes against the constitutional principles of equality and non-discrimination enshrined in the Indian Constitution. It observed that courts must strive to uphold these fundamental principles and intervene to ensure that the rights of individuals, irrespective of gender, are protected and upheld.
The court concluded that the judgement corrects this historical imbalance by granting daughters and their legal heirs the same rights as sons in ancestral property, regardless of when the daughter passed away.
Case Title: Channabasappa Hosmani AND Parvatevva alias Kasturevva & Others
Written by: Srijan Raj, @procrastinate_human
