NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 14, 2011 (bellevision.com): A Hindu woman or girl now has equal property rights along with other male relatives for any partition made in intestate succession after September 2005, the Supreme Court has ruled.
Overturning a decision by the Andhra Pradesh High Court, a bench of justices stated that under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, daughters are entitled to equal inheritance rights along with sons. This was not available to them prior to the amendment.
“The new Section 6 provides for parity of rights in the co-parcenary property among male and female members of a joint Hindu family on and from September 9, 2005. The legislature has now conferred substantive right in favor of the daughters.”
The term co-parcener refers to the equal inheritance right of a person in a property.
“According to the new Section 6, the daughter of a co-parcener becomes a co-parcener by birth in her own rights and liabilities in the same manner as the son. The declaration in Section 6 that the daughter of the co-parcener shall have same rights and liabilities in the co-parcenary property as she would have been a son is unambiguous and unequivocal,” said Supreme Court Justice R. M. Lodha.