The Hindu Succession act 1956 which is part of the coded Hindu act is perhaps one of the most comprehensive and progressive act. It is constantly being improved to meet new challenges and changing scenario.
In 2005 it was amended and daughters were given equal rights in the propety the same as for sons. Later Supeme Court in a judgement made this application backdated to be read from 1956 onwards. As compared to Hindu law the muslim law grants the dauhter only half of the share that a son will get and the wife gets only one sixth share.
But there is a small rider to this amendement in section 6 with a cut off date, which is normally missed by most and in a recent three judge bench the Supreme Court clarified it again by reiterating it. It simply means that if the ancestral property was sold, morgaged or donated on or before 20 Dec 2004 then the daughter or her children can not raise a complaint regarding their share. After 20 Dec 2004 the daughter or her children have a right to share in the ancestral property as much as son.
Ancestral property contains property brelonging to three generations of father, grandfater and great grandfather but it does not contain the property earned by the father and there he has a right to dispose it through a will as he wishes and in the absence of a will as per the Hindu succession Act 1956. Hindu definition includes Sikh, Jain and Buddhist also.
No comments:
Post a Comment