Shashwati Chowdhury
Published on: June 6, 2022 at 18:53 IST
The Punjab & Haryana High Court has held that if a widow’s husband did not own the suit land at the time of his death, she cannot inherit the property through natural succession. (Jaswant Kaur v. Lakhwinder Singh & Ors)
The Court held that the issue of inheriting the estate does not arise because the appellant’s husband was not the owner of such property on the date of his death, contrary to the widow’s appeal in which she sought to claim a right to the suit property based on natural succession.
The appellant claimed ownership of the suit land based on natural succession, claiming that her late husband had possessed the property and owned the same.
However, the Civil Court found that the sons were the actual owners of the suit property and that they had transferred it to the purchasers (who are also the defendants in the case) through registered sale deeds and upon receipt of consideration.
The Court held, “It has been held that late Sh. Baldev Singh [deceased husband] was not the owner of the suit land on the date of his death. Hence, the question of inheritance of the estate does not arise.”