Co Parcenary Rights of Daughters in Hindu Coparcenary in the Light of Judgment of the Supreme Court of India in: B Chandrashekhar Reddy v. State of Andhra Pradesh AIR 2003 SC 2322
16 Pages Posted: 21 Nov 2010
Date Written: November 19, 2010
Abstract
Since the passing of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (‘the Act’), one issue which was constantly agitated by the liberals was regarding the right of a daughter or a married daughter in coparcenary property of a Hindu Undivided Family. Some of the States which took the lead in liberalisation, passed State amendments to the Act, whereby an unmarried daughter married after the specified date was given a right in coparcenary property. Kerala, Karnataka and Maharashtra were some such States.
However, the agitation of the liberals still continued. As a result, the Act was amended by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 (‘the Amending Act’) which came into force from 9th September 2005. The Amending Act substituted S. 6 of the Act. The provision of S. 6 of the Act, so far as it relates to this article, is quoted below:
6. Devolution of interest in coparcenary property. - (1) On and from the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, in a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, the daughter of a coparcener shall, - (a) by birth become a coparcener in her own right in the same manner as the son; (b) have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son; (c) be subject to the same liabilities in respect of the said coparcenary property as that of a son, and any reference to a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter of a coparcener: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect or invalidate any disposition or alienation including any partition or testamentary disposition of property which had taken place before the 20th day of December, 2004.
Keywords: coparcenary, property rights, gender inequality
JEL Classification: K11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation