Shivani Pandey-
Published on August 06, 2021 1:39 IST
The Punjab and Haryana High Court furnished notice to the Union Government in a Petition questioning the validity of the provisions of Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. (In Re Manju Narayan Nathan v. Union of India and another)
In the instant case, a husband and wife died without having any offspring. Subsequently, the mother of the deceased couple claimed a stake in the estates of the deceased couple.
Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act provides for the general rules of Succession in the case of a male Hindu dying intestate and Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act provides for the general rules of Succession in the case of the death of a female Hindu dying intestate.
Advocates Sumeer Sodhi and Shreya Nair, representing the petitioner, stated that the scheme of the Hindu Succession Act is such that it precludes any chances of women acquiring property through their skills.
This results in the situation that distant relatives of the husband’s family of a woman dying intestate, childless, and without surviving husband have a stronger claim to the Hindu woman’s property than her husband.
However, when the male dies intestate, childless, and without surviving wife then the property first goes to his mother, then to his father and siblings, and then to his distant relatives. His wife’s family has no claim to the property.
According to the Petition, the source-based devolution of the property as provided in Section 15(2) is not there in Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act.
The Plea further stated that Section 15 sustains the same gender discrimination that was sought to be done away with by Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act,2005.
The Petition submitted that Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act is violative of Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India and therefore should be struck down.
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