34

THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT

1. What rights have been conferred on females by the amendments in
Hindu Succession Act in the year 2005?
Ans. The Hindu (Amendment) Act of 2005 has conferred the following rights on
females:
Equal rights to daughter in co-parcenary property:
a) in joint Hindu family governed by Mitakshara law, the daughter of a
co-parcener shall by birth become a co-parcener in her own right in
the same manner as the son and have the same rights in the co-
parcerary property as she would have had if she had been a son,
inclusive of the right to claim by survivorship and shall be subject to
the same liabilities and disabilities in respect thereto as the son;
b) at a partition in such a joint Hindu family the co-parcenary property
shall be so divided as to allot to a daughter the same share as is
allotable to a son:
Provided that the share which a predeceased son or a
predeceased daughter would have got at the partition if he or she
had been alive at the time of the partition, shall be allotted to the
surviving child of such predeceased son or of such predeceased
daughter:
Provided further that the share allotable to the predeceased child of
a predeceased son or of a predeceased daughter, if such child had
been alive at the time of the partition, shall be allotted to the child of
such predeceased child of the predeceased son or of such
predeceased daughter, as the case may be:
c) any property to which a female Hindu becomes entitled by virtue of
the provisions of clause a) shall be held by her with the incidents of
co-parcenary ownership and shall be regarded, notwithstanding
anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in
force, as property capable of being disposed of by her by will or
other testamentary disposition;
However, the aforesaid amendment shall not affect or invalidate any
disposition or alienation including any partition or testamentary disposition
of property which had taken placed before 20
th
December, 2004.
35
fgUnw mRrjkf/kdkj vf/kfu;e
PrzN o"kZ 2005 esa fgUnw mRrjkf/kdkj vf/kfu;e esa la'kks/ku djds
efgykvksa dks dkSu&2 ls vf/kdkj fn, x, gS\
-- lt-< (=ziii-) ~lil-n .cc: n nltni~i +i l---lnli-
~li+i l<( n( t
lzi +i =+- =-l- n i-- =ini- ~li+i
+) lt-< =+- li l= ln-i-ii lli nin ti-i t. (=
=+- li n zi +i -n = z + =ni- ni-i ini
~i -= =+- li +i =-l- n zi +i z + =ni-
i ~li+i (lt-=) lnnn ~i -= zi +i <il (
~i-i( z + =ni- tini
i) (= =+- li +i =-l- +i ii ti- zi +i z
+ =ni- (+ =i lt-=i lnnni
t l+ ~n li +i z i zi +i tn ti n ti -+i
ti -i i + =n -=+i =--i- -it t z ti i zi
-=+i ti lt-=i lnnni i -= z i zi +i i-- ti-i
l< t il- ti-i
t l+ n- =--i- = n- z i zi +i JO IH_SA
BmWVARE KE SMY IMLNA tA aGR t --i i + =n il-
HOTA, -i t -= n- S$TAN ini lt-=i @S B-CE KO
IMLE GA JO @S PuV^ n- LFKA YA LFKi Ki S$TAN KA B-CA He ,
CAHE VH LFKA HO YA LFKi
n) i (K) ~-=i JO i<i< lt-< nltni KO IMLi He , @S Sm PIT
KA VH H_TATmRn VSiYT Ki <H SE KR SKTi He
:= -i+- =ziii- +i .c l<=- .cc- = tn t( i
i H_TATmRn +i: ii -ti tini
36
Where a Hindu dies after the commencement of the Amendment Act, his
interest in the property of a joint Hindu Family shall devolve by
testamentary or intestate succession, as the case may be, and not by
survivorship.
Before the Amendment of 2005 female heir could not ask for partition in
respect of dwelling house wholly occupied by a joint family until male heirs
chose to divide their respective shares therein. Now this provision has
been omitted so as to remove the disability on female heirs. Thus a female
heir can now ask for partition in respect of a dwelling house occupied by a
joint family, irrespective, of the fact whether male heirs choose to divide
their respective shares therein or not.
2. What are the general rules of succession of females?
Ans. Property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve on the following:
a) firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of
any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband;
b) secondly, upon the heirs of the husband;
c) thirdly, upon the mother and father;
d) fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and
e) lastly, upon the heirs of the mother
The heirs specified in one entry shall be preferred to those in succeeding
entries. All the heirs included in same entry shall take simultaneously.
The heirs of pre-deceased son or daughter shall take between them the
share which such son or daughter would have taken, if living.
37
+i: lt-< := =ziili- (+ + -n- + z-i- n i-i
t -i -=+i =+- lt-< li +i =-l- n lt- +i ii
=i- i +i: n ni ,ii, ~n +i: lnii t. -=+
~-=i tini - l+ --ii + l=,i-- + ~-=i
.cc: + =ziii- = tn +i: ii nltni il=, IRHAYsi i,
i l+ =+- li + KJE MEm HO, +i i + ln( -
-+ -ti +t =+-i ii -+ i il= (=i - +-i
-it nltni il= +i := ~i-i +i lni- + ln( t
l-n ti l<i ni t ~- ~ (+ nltni il=. =+-
lt-< li ,ii ~liiin n ni i t i +i ii +i
=+-i t, -it i il= -it i -ti
PrzN MIHLA KE MAMLE MEm @kRAI~KAR KE SAMA$Y INYM ?
n | MIHLA tks fcuk olh;r ds cuk, ej tkrh gS rks mlds MRnOPRA$T
@SKi SmPI-i ds fuEufy[kr gdnkj gksa xs%&
1. PHLE - PUQ aoR PUIQYAm (IJNMEm PHLE MR CUKE PUQ YA PUQi KE B-CE bi
sAIML He m) aoR PIT,
2. DuSRE - PIT KE @-iRAI~KARi,
3. TiSRE - MATA aoR IPTA,
4. CotE - IPTA KE @-iRAI~KARi,
5. PAvCVA - MATA KE @-iRAI~KARi|
@PRO+T l| `$DrAJ MEm DJ^ @-iRAI~KARks a KO @SKE BAD DJ^ Ki G`^
Jsf.k;ksa ds mrjkf/kdkjh;ksa ls PrAtIMKTA Di JAlGi| lK #Eni MEm DJ^
@-iRAI~KARi cjkcj ds gdnkj gksa xs| PHLE MR CU KE PUQ YA PUQi KE
@-iRAI~KARi aAPS MEm @S PUQ/PUQi KA IH_SA tks mls feyrk ;fn og
thfor gksrk ;k gksrh] cjkcj ckaVsxsa A
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3. What are the general rules of succession of males?
Ans. The property of a male Hindu dying intestate shall devolve as follows:
a) firstly, upon the heirs, being the relatives specified in class 1 of the
Schedule;
b) secondly, if there is no heir of class I, then upon the heirs, being the
relatives specified in class II of the Schedule;
c) thirdly, if there is no heir of any of the two classes, then upon the
agnates of the deceased, and
d) lastly, if there is no agnate, then upon the cognates of the
deceased.
Heirs in Class I of Schedule
Son; daughter; widow; mother; son of of a predeceased son; son of a pre-
deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; widow of a pre-
deceased son; son of pre-deceased son of a pre-deceased son; daughter
of a pre-deceased, son of pre-deceased son; [son of a pre-deceased
daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased
daughter of a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased son of
a pre-deceased daughter; daughter of a pre-deceased daughter of a pre-
deceased son].
Heirs in Class II of Schedule
I. Father.
II. (1) Sons daughters son, (2) sonss daughters daughter, (3) brother, (4)
sister.
III. (1) Daughters sons son, (2) daughters sons daughter, (3) daughters
daughters son, (4) daughters daughters daughter.
IV. (1) Brothers son. (2) sisters son, (3) brothers daughter (4) sisters
daughter
V. Fathers father; fathers mother
VI. Fathers widow; brothers widow
VII. Fathers brother; fathers sister
39
PrzN ?
n li |n i - i i | -ln ; i lnln rin|
r r nilii|, i l-ni aNUSuIC Ki i- i| -
ii Gl r |
, l i- i| - i; nilii| r| r ni r nilii|
JO aNUSuIC Ki l,n| i| - ii n r |
n|, l r| i lii - i; nilii| r| r ni i MRNE
VALE KE SGOQ r (Agnates) i
n -, l i; ni - r| r ni - i in| (Cognates)
, | | lii -n i , -n | |, -n
| lii, - i | r - i| | i i, - i | r -
i| | | ||
i lni
ii irni | zirn| sii; r
iii | i ini, z| | in|, s i irni, | | irn|
iv in|i ziii sin|| ii|
v ii zi|
vi IPTA Ki IV~VA, zbA`^ Ki IV~VA
vii ni+ (ii) zi
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VIII Mother father; mothers mother
IX Mothers brother; mothers sister.
All the heirs specified in Class-I of schedule shall take simultaneously and
to the exclusion of all other heirs.
The heirs specified in first entry in class II of schedule shall be preferred to
those in the succeeding entry and similarly those in the second entry shall
be preferred to those in the third entry and so on. The property shall be
divided between the heirs specified in anyone entry so that they share
equally.
The property of an intestate shall divide among the heirs in Class I of the
schedule as follows:-
Rule 1. The intestates widow, or if there are more widows than one,
all the widows together, shall take one share.
Rule 2. The surviving sons and daughters and the mother of the
intestate shall each take one share.
Rule 3. The heirs in the branch of each pre-deceased son or each
pre-deceased daughter of the intestate shall take between
them one share.
Rule 4. The distribution of the share referred to in Rule-3
ii) among the heirs in the branch of the pre-deceased son shall be so
made that his widow (or widows together) and the surviving sons
and daughters get equal portions; and the branch of his
predeceased sons gets the same portion;
iii) among the heirs in the branch of the pre-deceased daughter shall
be so made that the surviving sons and daughters get equal
portions.
41
viii ii zi|
ix -i-i z-i|
i| nilii| i l | i- i| - lii n r i ri
rin i i| niliili KO cOFKR @TRAI~KARi PAYEmGE/I,ITY #Eni KE
@TRAI~KAIRYOm MEm `$DrAJ-1 MEm DJ^ @TRAI~KARi KO DuSRi l- MEm DJ^ VAIRSOm SE
iil-ni | in| i ;| i | l- nilii|i i n-n| l- -
lin nilii|i iil-ni | in|| l| l- - lin nilii|i
- -ln i i-| in||
- i | l-n i -ii | | i- i| nilii|i -
; i rini
l-I:- - i | lii, aoR l li lii r n i|
liii i ii, lr-i l-ni|
l-II:- , li i - i | -i i lr-i i|
l-III:- - i -n i | il i - lr-i n|
l-IV:- l-s - lr- i -ii ; i rini -
r - i i lr-i lnln rini
lii zi s| (ii)
r - i| | i lr-i lnln rini
i z| (i)