New Delhi: An unmarried Hindu woman is
entitled to equal share in ancestral or coparcenery property
along with other male members under the amended Hindu
Succession Act, the Supreme Court has held.
Coparcenary refers to equal inheritance which was
restricted only to male members of the Hindu Undivided Family
but after succesive amendements several states have chosen to
extend the benefit to unmarried female members too.
A bench of justices G S Singhvi and K S Radhakrishnan
said even if a decree of partition has been passed, a female
claimant can enforce her equal property right if she was
unmarried at the time of the amendment brought in by the
respective state legislatures.
The apex court said the purpose of extending equal
property right to women was to end discrimination on the
ground of sex as part of the Constitutional obligation and
social legislation.
"Framers of the Constitution were great visionaries. They
not only placed justice and equality at the highest pedestal
but also incorporated several provisions for ensuring that the
people are not subjected to discrimination on the ground of
caste, colour, religion or sex.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, May 18, 2011, 22:35