Tribal women too are entitled to equal share in property, rules Madras HC

Subject: Polity

Section: Msc

Concept :

The Madras High Court has ruled that tribal women are entitled to equal share in the family property as per the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
The judge insisted the Tamil Nadu government to initiate necessary steps for the purpose of issuing appropriate notification through Central government under Section 2(2) of the Hindu Succession Act 1956, to protect the equal property right of tribal women in the state.

Section 2 (2)of the Hindu Succession Act

According to Section 2(2) of the Hindu Succession Act, the statute which guarantees equal shares for male and female heirs is not applicable to members of Scheduled Tribe communities.
Central Government has to issue a separate notification to extend the property rights to ST Women.

Hindu Succession Act 1956

The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 was passed by the Indian Parliament to alter and codify the law of intestate or unwilled succession among Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs.
In one Act, the Act establishes a unified and complete system of inheritance and succession.
The Act abolishes the Hindu woman’s limited estate. 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 it of by will as she likes.
Parts of this Act was amended in 2005 by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.

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.
Section 6 of the Act was amended to make a daughter of a coparcener also a coparcener by birth “in her own right in the same manner as the son”.
It also gave the daughter the same rights and liabilities “in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son”.
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.

What were the property rights of a daughter before 2005?

The Mitakshara School of Hindu law became the basis and subset of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956.
As per the act, an individual who is born in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) becomes a coparcener by birth.
The law applied also to Buddhist, Sikhs, Jain, and followers of Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj are also considered Hindus but not to who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi or Jew by religion. This provision is also valid for further amendments.
A coparcener is not the same as a member of HUF. All coparceners are considered members but all members may not be considered as coparceners. A wife or husband of the coparcener is not a coparcener in that family though being a member. The benefit of being a coparcener is that only coparceners can ask for the partition of the property.
The daughter, after marriage, would cease to be a HUF member of her father and will not be entitled to the right of maintenance and a share in the property of the HUF, if the property were partitioned after her marriage.
The female members were not entitled to become a Karta of the HUF as only a coparcener was entitled to become the Karta of the HUF.
Note :According to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, an individual who is born in a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) has a legal right over his ancestral property. Therefore, he is a coparcener (joint-heir) by birth.