This article is written by 2nd year law student of Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida.
INTRODUCTION: – The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 is an Act relating to the succession and inheritance of property. This Act lays down a comprehensive and uniform system that incorporates both succession and inheritance. This Act also deals with intestate or unwilled (testamentary) succession. Therefore, this Act combines all the aspects of Hindu succession and brings them into its ambit. This article shall further explore the applicability, and the basic terms and definitions and the rules for succession in the case of males and females.
The rules of Hindu personal law are heavily dependent on the two schools popularly known as Mitakshara School and Dayabhaga School. According to the Mitakshara School, there are two modes of devolution of property. These are:
- Devolution by survivorship
- Devolution of succession
The rule of survivorship is only applicable with respect to joint family property or coparcenary property. On the other hand, succession rules apply to separate property held by a person. However, the Dayabhaga School places emphasis on succession as the only mode of devolution of property. The article discusses the rules of succession under the Act and gives an overview of the whole Act. It also describes the devolution of coparcenary property along with the major changes brought by it.
OVERVIEW OF THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT:-
The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 is a significant legal reform in Indian history, standardizing inheritance and property rights among Hindus. It replaced diverse traditional laws with a uniform code, promoting equality and fairness in line with the Indian Constitution’s principles.
This Act applies to all Hindus, including various sects like Virashaiva and Lingayat, as well as reformist groups such as Brahmo, Prarthna, and Arya Samaj. It also extends to Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs, reflecting India’s pluralistic and inclusive approach to law.
By unifying diverse practices under a common legal framework, the Hindu Succession Act plays a crucial role in ensuring equitable inheritance rights across the Hindu community in India.
APPLICABILITY OF THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT
The HSA comes into force when a Hindu dies intestate. Thereafter, succession depends upon the rules as carried in the Act. In case of a Hindu man dying intestate, his property goes to the following and in this order of preference. The following chart shows the rightful heirs as per the Act: \
Heir according to Hindu Succession Act
| Class-I heirs | Class-II heirs | Agnates | Cognates |
| i. Son
ii. Daughter iii. Widow iv. Mother v. Son of a predeceased son vi. Daughter of predeceased son vii. Widow of predeceased son viii. Son of a predeceased daughter ix. Daughter of predeceased daughter x. Son of predeceased son of predeceased son xi. Daughter of predeceased son of a predeceased son xii. Widow of predeceased son of a predeceased son |
I). Father
II). (1) Son’s daughter’s son, (2) son’s daughter’s daughter, (3) brother, (4) sister III). (1) Daughter’s son’s son, (2) daughter’s son’s daughter, (3) daughter’ daughter’s son, (4) daughter’s daughter’s daughter. IV). (1) Brother’s son, (2) sister’s son, (3) brother’s daughter, (4) sister’s daughter. V). Father’s father; father’s mother. VI). Father’s widow; brother’s widow. VII). Father’s brother; father’s sister. VIII). Mother’s father; mother’s mother IX). Mother’s brother; mother’s sister. |
Example: Father’s brother’s son or even father’s brother’s widow. Rule 1: Of two heirs, the one who is in nearer line is preferred.
Rule 2: Where the number of degrees of ascent is the same or none, that heir is preferred who is closer to the common ancestor. Rule 3: Where neither heir is entitled to be preferred to the other under Rule 1 or Rule 2 they take simultaneously. |
Example: Father’s sister’s son or brother’s daughter’s son
Rule 1: Of two heirs, the one who is in nearer line is preferred. Rule 2: Where the number of degrees of ascent is the same or none, that heir is preferred who is closer to the common ancestor. Rule 3: Where neither heir is entitled to be preferred to the other under Rule 1 or Rule 2 they take simultaneously |
*Note: Agnates are relations through the males but not by blood or adoption. These can be relations through marriages. Cognates are relations through the females.
MAJOR CHANGES IN HINDU SUSSESSION ACT: – The Hindu Succession Act was amended in 2005 to add or remove different clauses within the earlier Act. Some of the most significant changes in the Act are as follows:
Section 4(2) amendment
The Section 4(2) of the Hindu Succession Act did not include agricultural lands under its scope of inheritance. This is revoked in 2005 by adding the right to claim inheritance over agricultural lands. The Act was amended to ensure greater equality between men and women, so that women could exercise their rights on the lands they have been toiling.
Revamping of Section 6
Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act stated that women could enjoy property rights only if it was gifted by the woman’s relatives or strangers. However, in both the cases, the absolute ownership or the rights were retained by the relatives or the strangers. The revamping of Section 6 and adding new clauses helped in making women enjoy equal rights as her brothers or other male members in the family.
Omitting Section 3
Section 3 of the Hindu Succession Act did not grant women the right to seek for partition within a house unless the male members wanted so. This reduced the autonomy and rights of the women and hindered her privacy. As a result, the amendment omitted Section 3 of this Act.
DAUGHTER’S RIGHT ON FATHER’S PROPERTY AFTER HER MARRIAGE-The HSA was amended in 2005 and it gave equal rights to the daughter in terms of property. Prior to the Hindu Succession Amendment Act 2005, sons enjoyed rights over the deceased father’s property, whereas daughters could do so only till she was unmarried. It was understood that after marriage, a woman attaches herself to the husband’s family and therefore, has rights in another Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) altogether. Now, married and unmarried daughters have the same rights on their father’s property as their brothers. They are also entitled to equal duties and liabilities as their brothers. In 2005, it was also ruled that a daughter has the same rights, provided that both, father and daughter, were alive on September 9, 2005. In 2018, the SC stated that a daughter can inherit her deceased father’s property no matter whether the father was alive on this date or not. Hereon, women were also accepted as coparceners. They can demand a share in the father’s property.
In 2022, the Supreme Court ruled that daughters have the right to inherit their parents’ self-acquired property and any other property of which they are absolute owners, adding that this rule would apply even in cases where the parents of a daughter died intestate before the codification of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
UNMARRIED ADULT DAUGHTER CAN’T CLAIM MAINTENANCE FROM FATHER UNDER SECTION 125 OF CRPC: HC
An adult daughter unmarried can’t seek maintenance from her father Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure on the ground that she does not have means to support herself, the Kerala High Court has said. The HC said that an unmarried daughter unable to maintain herself because of physical, mental abnormality or injury is entitled to seek maintenance from her father under Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. To make this claim, she is liable to produce evidence of the same, the HC added in its order dated January 26, 2023.
“By virtue of Section 125 (1) of CRPC, unmarried daughter, who attained majority, could not claim maintenance in the ordinary circumstance, viz. merely on the ground that she does not have means for her sustenance. At the same time, even though the unmarried daughter, who attained majority, is entitled for maintenance, where such unmarried daughter is by reason of any physical or mental abnormality or injury is unable to maintain herself, or which, pleadings and evidence in this regard are mandatory,” the HC ruled.
SHARE OF MARRIED DAUGHTERS IN FATHER’S PROPERTY:-
What is the share which married daughters can claim in their father’s property? According to the Supreme Court judgment, in her father’s ancestral property, a daughter gets an equal right along with her brothers. However, this does not mean the property will be equally divided between a brother and the sister after the demise of the father. Since inheritance laws also confer property rights on other legal heirs of the deceased, the division of the property will be based on the share of each heir according to the applicable inheritance laws. A married daughter having an equal share in her father’s property simply means that whatever share her brother claims, she will get the same share, too.
SON CAN’T MORTGAGE PROPERTY IN WHICH DAUGHTERS HAVE RIGHT: HC
A son does not have the right to mortgage a family property on which daughters also have equal rights, the Karnataka High Court (HC) has ruled. While dismissing a second appeal made against the order of a trial court, the HC ordered that the son can’t unilaterally mortgage the property of his father who dies without leaving a will. In the case titled Rukmavathi Sheregar versus K Radha Devendra Sheregar, the high court in its order dated August 17, 2023, said: “The trial court as well as the first appellate court considered the material on record and came to the conclusion that the property belongs to the daughters as well as the son… the son (alone) cannot mortgage the property, excluding others when they are the daughters of the family propositus …there is no testamentary document in favour of the son and son was not having absolute right to mortgage the property… The parties are entitled for share in the property equally.”
PROPERTY INHERITED OF SINGLE WOMEN:-
Inherited property of childless woman dying intestate goes back to source: Supreme Court
Property of women who leave behind no children and die without leaving a will goes back to its source, the SC has ruled.
“If a female Hindu dies intestate without leaving any issue, the property inherited by her from her father or mother would go to the heirs of her father, whereas the property inherited from her husband or father-in-law would go to the heirs of the husband,” the SC observed while delivering its verdict in the S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari, JJ case.
In case of married women who leave behind their husband and children, her properties, including the properties which she inherited from her parents, would devolve upon her husband and her children as provided in Section 15(1)(a) of the Succession Act.
PROPERTY RIGHTS OF MOTHER ON SON’S PROPERTY
A mother is a legal heir to her deceased son’s property. Therefore, if a man leaves behind his mother, wife and children, all of them have an equal right on his property. Do note that if the mother passes away without creating a will, her share in her son’s property will devolve upon her legal heirs, including her other children.
UNDER INDIAN SUCCESSION ACT, MOTHER NOT LEGAL HEIR OF MAN WHO DIES INTESTATE: HC
Under the Indian Succession Act of 1925, the assets of a man who dies without leaving a will are divided between his widow and children, the Madras High Court (HC) has ruled. The mother of the deceased has no right in the properties of her late son, the high court clarified while giving its judgment in a recent case. The mother is entitled to get a share in her late son’s property only in the absence of his surviving wife and children, the two-judge bench of Justice R Subramanian and Justice N Senthilkumar ruled. “As per the rules under Section 33 and 33-A, where a Christian dies intestate leaving behind a widow and lineal descendants, 1/3rd of the property would go to the widow and remaining 2/3rd will go to the lineal descendants,” it said while delivering its verdict on an appeal filed by one Agnes alias Karpaga Devi and her minor daughter.
INHERITANCE OF AN ADOPTED CHILD
An adopted child is also a Class-I heir and enjoys all the rights that a biological child is entitled to. However, an adopted child cannot stake claim to his adoptive father’s property in case this father was disqualified from succeeding to any property because of a crime that he might have committed. If the father had converted to any other religion and the adopted child is practising the same religion as well, even in this case, the adopted child cannot inherit the ancestral property.
No difference between adopted and biological child: Karnataka High Court
In November 2022, the Karnataka High Court also ruled that an adopted child has the same right as a biological child, and they cannot be discriminated against while being considered for their parents’ job on compassionate grounds. “A son is a son or a daughter is a daughter, adopted or otherwise, if such a distinction is accepted then there would be no purpose served by adoption,” the Dharwad Bench of the Karnataka High Court said.
Adopted child stops being coparcener of birth family: HC
An adopted child stops being a coparcener of their birth family and consequently gives up any right or interest in the family ancestral property, the Telangana High has ruled. In an order dated June 27, 2023, the high court said that only if a partition took place before the adoption and the property was allotted to the adopted person, they could carry that property to their new family.
“Only if a partition has taken place before the adoption and property is allotted to his share or self acquired, obtained by will, inherited from his natural father or other ancestor or collateral which is not coparcenary property held along with other coparceners and property held by him as sole surviving coparcener, he carries that property with him to the adoptive family with corresponding obligations,” said the full Bench of the HC.
CONCLUSION:-This article explored some basic terms and definitions used in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. There are four classes of heirs to which property devolves in case if a Hindu dies leaving behind a will, in which case he becomes intestate. This property devolves through these classes. If no one from the earlier class is present, then it devolves to the next class and so on. Lastly, this article also explored the 2005 Amendment to this Act, which brought much-needed protection to women’s rights regarding the property.
The Act has been successful in bringing uniformity to the succession of property among Hindus. It tried to rectify all the loopholes that existed by enacting the 2005 amendment. However, there is an ambiguity as to people to whom this act is not applicable. One of the major impacts of this Act is that it emphasises equality between males and females by recognising the rights of daughters as coparceners. Women now have the right to be a coparcener, inherit property, be absolute owners, etc. The Act also abolished disqualifications based on the physical deformity and mental depravity and instead disqualified murderers and converted persons, which is reasonable.
REFERENCES:-
https://housing.com/news/all-about-property-rights-in-india/
https://www.ezylegal.in/blogs/the-hindu-succession-act-1956-rights-amendments-and-implications
https://districts.ecourts.gov.in/sites/default/files/sucession.pdf
https://blog.ipleaders.in/the-hindu-succession-act-1956/