Supreme Court backs women's share in parental property

Guwahati: The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday held that daughters would have equal coparcenary rights in the fathers' properties even if father passed away before the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, came into force.

The Court has ruled that the 2005 amendment would have retrospective effect in conferring rights on daughters who were alive at the time of the amendment, even if they were born before it.

The three-judge bench was headed by Justice Arun Mishra. This important judgment came as an answer based on contradictory decisions given by past verdicts of the top court.

Although the amendment was valid for daughters born in Hindu families as coparceners who died after the act was put in force, there was no clarity on whether it will have retrospective effect.

The Supreme Court decided that such right will not be retrospective in the Prakash v Phulwati 2016 case and in 2018 another bench of the court in Danamma v Amar held it to be retrospective.

The bench said, "Daughters cannot be deprived of their right to equality conferred by Section 6 of the Act."

"Daughter is always a loving daughter for the rest of their life," Justice Mishra said.

The bench said that daughters will have the right over parental property even if the coparcener had died prior to the coming into force of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.

The amendment came into effect on September 9, 2005. The courts considered this as the cut-off date to decide pleas by daughters seeking equal rights as coparceners as sons in their father's assets.

The bench further said that matters pending in trial courts on this issue be decided in six months.