In news-Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that the daughters of a male Hindu, dying intestate, would be entitled to inherit the self-acquired and other properties obtained in the partition by the father and get preference over other collateral members of the family.
Key features of the Hindu Succession Act-
- The Act lays down a uniform and comprehensive system of inheritance and succession into one Act.
- It was enacted to amend and codify the law relating to intestate or unwilled succession among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.
- The Hindu woman’s limited estate is abolished by the Act.
- Any property possessed by a Hindu female is to be held by her absolute property and she is given full power to deal with it and dispose of it as she likes.
- It abolished the female’s “limited owner” status.
- This Act is applicable to the following:
- any person who is a Hindu by religion in any of its forms or developments including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or follower of the Brahmo, Prarthana or Arya Samaj;
- any person who is Buddhist, Jains, Sikh by religion;
- to any other person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion unless it is proved that the concerned person would not have been governed by the Hindu Law;
Exceptions:
- Any person who commits murder is disqualified from receiving any form of inheritance from the victim.
- If a relative converts from Hinduism, he or she is still eligible for inheritance.
- However, the descendants of that converted relative are disqualified from receiving inheritance from their Hindu relatives, unless they have converted to Hinduism before the death of the relative.
The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005:
- It amended Section 4, Section 6, Section 23, Section 24 and Section 30 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
- It revised rules on coparcenary property, giving daughters of the deceased equal rights with sons, and subjecting them to the same liabilities and disabilities.
- The amendment essentially furthers equal rights between Hindu males and females in society through legislation.
Source: Indian Express
