Women’s rights to their husband’s property and ancestral property have always been a contentious and sensitive issue. Now, a historic Supreme Court decision has shed some very clear light on the issue. The Supreme Court’s decision to resolve a confusing interpretation of Hindu women’s property rights in the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, has been a major unresolved issue for six decades.
The question is, does a Hindu wife retain full ownership of the property bequeathed by her husband, even if certain restrictions are imposed in the will? So, let us tell you that Supreme Court Justices Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta on Monday decided to refer the matter to a larger bench to resolve the issue once and for all. The court said the issue concerns the rights of every Hindu woman, her family and cases pending in many courts across the country. This is not just a matter of legal nuances, but this decision will have profound consequences for millions of Hindu women. The decision will determine whether women can use, transfer or sell their property without interference.
What’s going on?
The roots of this case date back nearly sixty years. The case involved a 1965 will of a man named Kanwar Bhan, in which he granted life rights to a parcel of land to his wife on the condition that the property would revert to him upon her death heir. After a few years, the wife sold the land. He claimed to be the outright owner of the property. The sale was subsequently challenged by the son and grandson and the case went to court, with conflicting verdicts at every stage.
The trial court and the appellate court ruled in favor of the wife, citing the 1977 Supreme Court decision in Tulasamma vs. Shesh Reddy. The decision broadly interpreted Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, which gives Hindu women full ownership of property. However, the Punjab and Haryana High Court disagreed and cited the 1972 Supreme Court judgment in Kami v. Amaru, which held that conditions contained in a will were restrictive on property rights.
SC stressed the need for clarification on the issue
The controversy has now reached the Supreme Court, which reminded Justice PN Bhagwati of the issues raised in the Tulsama judgment. Justice Bhagwati described the draft law on Section 14 as a paradise for lawyers and an endless dilemma for litigants. The Supreme Court underlined the need for clarification on this issue and stated that it was of paramount importance to clarify the legal position on this issue. Now, a larger bench has to decide whether the conditions given in the will can limit a Hindu woman’s property rights under Section 14(1).
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