FAMILY LAW II

SUCCESSION LAWS & WOMEN IN INDIA: JUDICIAL CONTRIBUTION

SUBMITTED BY:-

 SUDHANSHU SINGH |SAP ID:81022019473

 FATEMA LOKHANDWALA |SAP ID:81022019515
 SAUNAK ASH |SAP ID :81022019226
3RD YEAR, B.B.A. LLB (HONS.)

SEMESTER V

DATE OF SUBMISSION:-
30th September 2022

SUBMITTED TO:

DR. TANMEET KAUR SAHIWAL

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Writing a research paper was one among the foremost and difficult tutorial challenges we
even have ever faced in my student life.

This paper would have not been possible without the help of my professor my family and my
friends who helped, supported and encouraged me to finish this project.

While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in
Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in
Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Kaur
Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and
for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this
assignment.

While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We
would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this
assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in
great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to
complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal
Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and
coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its
Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her
valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of
Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing
us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the
concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for
providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to
understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as
a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and
helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on
this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal
Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my
research on this topic as a group and for

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 TABLE OF CONTENT

Serial No. Heading Page No

1. TABLE OF CASES 4

2. INTRODUCTION 5

3. LITERATURE REVIEW 6-7

4. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 7

5. RESEARCH QUESTION 7

6. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 8

7. DIFFERENCES IN HINDU AND MUSLIM SUCCESSION 9

LAWS
8. HINDU SUCCESSION LAWS & WOMEN IN INDIA: A 10-12
JUDICIAL PERSPECTIVE.
9. CRITICISM AGAINST THE 2005 AMENDMENT 13

10. MUSLIM SUCCESSION LAWS & WOMEN IN INDIA: 14

JUDICIAL CONTRIBUTION.
11. JUDICIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND ADVANCEMENTS 15

12. CONCLUSION 16

13. BIBLIOGRAPHY 17

14. APPENDIX I 18-19

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 TABLE OF CASES

NAME OF THE CASE PAGE NO

1. Bhagat Ram v. Teja Singh AIR (2002) SC 1 11
2. Danamma @Suman Surpur V Amar Singh, (2018)3SCC 343 11
3. Dhanishta Kalita v. Ramakanta Kalita [AIR 2003 Goa 92] 11
4. Jahandarunnissa Begum vs. Mohd. Moinuddin and Ors 14
MANU/AP/0059/1952
5. Jowala Baksh v. Dharum Singh 10 Moo Ind App 511 14
6. Mohammad Hussain Khan vs. Babu Kishya Nandan Sahai, 1937 10
64 I.A. 250.
7. Oulam Abbas v. Haji Kayvam Ali ((1973) 1 SCC 1 : 1973 SC 14
554)
8. Prakash v. Phulavati (2016) 2 SCC 36 11
9. S. Sai Reddy v. S. Narayana Reddy, MANU/SC/0609/1991 12
10. Umar Khan v. Niaz-Ud-Din Khan, (1911) 39 IA 19 14
11. Venkayyamma vs. Venkataramanyamma (1905 25 Mad. 678) 10

assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in
great depth. We would like to HI KID Shank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate
with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in
Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and
coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its
Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Pr HI KIDS ofessor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with
her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new asp SAY of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the
concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank TORE Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and
for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across TATA s a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped
me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this
topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the HI BYE research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of Inheritance in
Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this opportunity to carry
out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of new aspects of
Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for giving us this
opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. While doing the research for this paper we came across a lot of
new aspects of Inheritance in Personal Laws and helped me to understand the concept of Inheritance and its Intricacies’ in Personal Laws and in great depth. We would like to thank our Professor Dr. Tanmeet Sahiwal for
giving us this opportunity to carry out my research on this topic as a group and for providing us with her valuable to assist and coordinate with us to complete this assignment. Primary Inheritance

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 I. INTRODUCTION

The battle for women's property rights has really been ongoing for a while, one of the heavily
debated topics in both the Western and Muslim worlds is women's rights, but there haven't
been much achievements because of a lack of acceptance by individual and family levels to
Islamic teachings on succession. Nevertheless, Quran has always placed women in a
respectable place in the society and home across all domains. In fact, the holy Quran states
clearly the idea of  succession among Muslim Women. Furthermore, in Hindus till the time of
introduction of the Hindu Succession Act in 1956, the majority of amendments focused on
safeguarding the rights of the wife. The inclusion of the idea of notional partition in Section 6
of the Hindu Succession Act, with the daughter as a class I successor, was probably the first
significant development in the law acknowledging a daughter's rights to her father's assets.

Women are to be given a particular status and position in every society and culture. Women
are frequently oppressed in many aspects of their lives, and the majority of the time they are
unfairly treated in the family, specifically when it comes to the rights to inheritance. 1 Every
person has a right to receive equitable treatment in all facets of life.  However, a woman is
made to feel this disparity, particularly when it comes to her property rights because her
status in contemporary society is less than a man's. The ability to own property is a necessary
condition for integrating women into a nation's economy. However, it has been observed that
women are not able to succeed property even after the demise of their parents in any of the
two religions. This primarily occurs as a result of inadequate education and the failure to
enforce legislation pertaining to Muslim and Hindu women's inheritance rights.

This Paper is divided into 2 Parts namely

1. Hindu Succession laws & Women in India: Judicial Contribution.
2. Muslim Succession laws & Women in India: Judicial Contribution and the provisions
discussed in the research paper are attached as APPENDIX I

1
Ahmad, M., Batool, M., & Dziegielewski, S. F. (2016). State of Inheritance Rights: Women in a Rural District
in Pakistan. Journal of Social Service Research, 42 (5), 622-629.

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 II. LITERATURE REVIEW2

reform has an impact on a variety of economic and non-economic outcomes. In this paper, I
explore the time-use effect of such reform.
According to Gakul Kasturi (2013) in Hindu Women's Property Rights under Hindu
Succession Law: Past and Present. It talks about the old shastric laws, within which the
condition as a widow, maiden or married defined her ownership, burdening with more
constraints than perks.”

Article entitled “Hukum of Allaha India: Property Rights of women” authored by Abdul
Kadir Muhammad.3 The author notes that there are two types of legislation in India that
govern how Muslim inheritance are run and managed. Both the Muslim inheritance
legislation and the customary estate in the area exist. He explains how the two laws differ in
terms of heir issues, heir status, and the share of distribution determined by the customary
estate practised in the Quran.

III. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

2
Deininger et al. (2019) find that Hindu Succession Act not only benefitted the women exposed to the reform,
but their children also benefitted by improving their education and health outcomes, especially for girls. On the
3
Bose and Das (2017) find that Hindu Succession Act does not have any effect on girls’ education in
households with mothers exposed to the reform but observes a significant decline in boys’ education.

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This present study has been conducted with the following objective:

1. To study the concept of Inheritance in personal laws.

2. To critically analysis the weather Hindu Succession Act violates and Fundamental
Rights or it has loopholes.
3. To understand the Primary Inheritance rights of a Muslim Women.

IV. RESEARCH QUESTION

1. Whether The Project Of Reforming The Hindu Succession Act Is Over?
2. Whether Hindu Succession Act Violates Art. 14 & 15 of the Constitution?
3. Whether Muslim Women Are Denied With The Inheritance Rights Or are they just
Negligent?

V. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The current study, which is shaped like a review paper, has its roots in secondary material
that was collected and produced from a variety of text books and research publications that
are readily available online. The method used in this paper would be doctrinal and descriptive
form of research. The authors in this paper mainly relied on f data which includes, statutory
provisions, case studies and case laws. This papers also follows ex post facto research which
aims to do a retrospective analysis and tries to answer the ‘What’ rather than the ‘Why’.
Historical research was also used wherein the authors relied on old texts and papers in order
to understand and explain an event that occurred in the past.

VI. DIFFERENCES IN HINDU AND MUSLIM SUCCESSION LAWS

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 VII. HINDU SUCCESSION LAWS & WOMEN IN INDIA: A JUDICIAL
PERSPECTIVE.

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According to Section 6 of the Act,4 the interests in a male Hindu coparcenary's property is
distributed according to the principle of survivorship among the coparcenary's member. The
Act 5of  does not apply retroactively, although Section 14(1) is one of the exception to this
rule, giving female Hindus unlimited rights to property they had acquired prior to the Act
came into effect. On May 27, 1976, Section 16  Act, 1956, was changed to address the legal
status of child of void and voidable marriages. Along with state statutes establishing
coparcenary rights for daughters, Amendment of 2005 to the HAS also makes these changes.
STAGE 1: SITUATION BEFORE 195667

STAGE 2: INTRODUCTION OF HINDU SUCCESSION ACT 1956

4
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
5
Hindu Succession Act, 1956
6
Venkayyamma vs. Venkataramanyamma (1905 25 Mad. 678)
7
Mohammad Hussain Khan vs. Babu Kishya Nandan Sahai, 1937 64 I.A. 250.

9
891011

8
Bhagat Ram v. Teja Singh AIR (2002) SC 1
9
Dhanishta Kalita v. Ramakanta Kalita [AIR 2003 Goa 92]
10
Danamma @Suman Surpur V Amar Singh, (2018)3SCC 343
11
Hindu Succession Act, 1956

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 VIII. CRITICISM AGAINST THE 2005 AMENDMENT

 If a part division had been completed with regard to some coparceners prior to the
implementation of the new rule, their share would remain unaffected. On the other hand,
the daughter's inclusion in the coparcenary 12 would result in a decrease in the portion for
those who remained undivided. Although this concern is legitimate, it seems inevitable.

 Even if daughters lack experience and relocate to another family after marriage, daughters
who become coparceners may become kartas rather than moms. The same defence can be
made for a son as well, though.13

IX. MUSLIM SUCCESSION LAWS & WOMEN IN INDIA: JUDICIAL

CONTRIBUTION.
12
B. Sivaramayya, "Coparcenary Rights to Daughters: Constitutional and Interpretational Issues", (1997) 3
S.C.C. (J.) 25 at p.33.
13
S. Sai Reddy v. S. Narayana Reddy, MANU/SC/0609/1991

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Inheritance rights for women in families are clearly outlined in both the Quran and Sunnah.
Women do not really have the same rights as males do, but females do have unique rights
related to succession, dignity, and guardianship of the family's children. This is due to the
fact that Islam protects women's financial rights, which must be managed by their guardians
(father, brother, spouse, etc.) as a requirement in all aspects of their lives.14

DISTRIBUTION OF SHARE TOWARDS WOMEN

X. JUDICIAL CONTRIBUTIONS AND ADVANCEMENTS

14
Al-Bukhārī. M. I. I. (1997). The Translation of the meaning of Sahīh Al-bukhārī, Arabic-English (1st ed.).
Translated by Dr Muhammad Muhsin Khan, Riyadh-Saudi Arabiya: Darussalam Publishers and Distributors.

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1. Jahandarunnissa Begum vs. Mohd. Moinuddin and Ors. 15 It was observed by the court
that Islamic law does not recognise the legitimacy of any foreign tradition that runs
counter to or against its tenets. In the Muslim Law faith, there is a very strong bond
between the law and religion. Normal rules prohibit any deviation from or alteration of
that Quranic Law.

2. Jowala Baksh v. Dharum Singh16 In this case, the issue was whether a Hindu who had
converted to Islam could establish a tradition claiming that a Hindu inheritance ritual still
applied to his family. The Privy Council did not consider this argument in this instance
because the court  did not believe it was crucial to the outcome of the appeal..1718

XI. CONCLUSION

15
Jahandarunnissa Begum vs. Mohd. Moinuddin and Ors MANU/AP/0059/1952
16
Jowala Baksh v. Dharum Singh 10 Moo Ind App 511
17
Oulam Abbas v. Haji Kayvam Ali ((1973) 1 SCC 1 : 1973 SC 554)
18
Umar Khan v. Niaz-Ud-Din Khan, (1911) 39 IA 19

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 XII. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. Archana Mishra. “Devolution of Property of the Hindu Female: Autonomy, Relationality,
and the Law”. In: International Journal of Law, Policy and The Family (2015).
2. Dinshaw Fardunji Mulla. Principles of Hindu Law. Ed. by Satyajeet A Desai. 23rd ed.
2018.
3. National Commission for Women. Review of Laws and Legislative Measures Affecting
Women: No. 19 The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (30 of 1956)
4. Lucia Ruggeri, Ivana Kunda, and Sandra Winkler. Family Property and Succession in EU
Member States: National Reports on the Collected Data. 2019. [28] Ayushi Singhal.
“Female Intestate Succession under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956: An Epitome of
Inequality and Irrationality”. In: Christ University Law Journal 4.2 (2015).
5. Diwan Paras, Modern Hindu Law, Allahabad Law Agency. 19th ed .,(2008)., Faridabad.
6. Das, Bidisha and Banerjee, Shivangi, Hindu Female Intestate Succession Laws and Their
Impact on Fundamental Rights of the Elderly (May 1, 2021).
7. Busari Jamiu Muhammad. (2020). AL-FARÁ'ID- THE ISLAMIC LAW OF
INHERITANCE: Introduction and Theories. Jaldeen, M.S. (1993). The Muslim law of
Succession Inheritance and waqf. Colombo: The federation of Association of Muslim
Youth in India(FAMYS). Khan, M. M. (2000). Islamic Law of Inheritance -new
approach. New Delhi: Kitab Bahavan. Luqman Haji Abdullah, Abdul Karim Ali and
Mohd Roslan

XIII. APPENDIX 1
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 BARE PROVISIONS DISSCUSSED IN THE RESEARCH PAPER

INDIAN CONSTITUTION
Article 14
Equality before law The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the
equal protection of the laws within the territory of India Prohibition of discrimination on
grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth.
Article 15
Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
(1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race,
caste, sex, place of birth or any of them
(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of
them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to
(a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and palaces of public entertainment; or
(b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly
or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public
(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for
women and children
(4) Nothing in this article or in clause ( 2 ) of Article 29 shall prevent the State from making
any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes
of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes

HINDU SUCCESSION ACT

SECTION 15(2)
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1),—
(a)  any property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother shall devolve, in the
absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased
son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified
therein, but upon the heirs of the father; and
(b) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or from her father-in-law
shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of
any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in
the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the husband.

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SECTION 16
Order of succession and manner of distribution among heirs of a female Hindu.—The order
of succession among the heirs referred to in section 15 shall be, and the distribution of the
intestates property among those heirs shall take place according to the following rules,
namely:— Rule 1.—Among the heirs specified in sub-section
(1) of section 15, those in one entry shall be preferred to those in any succeeding entry and
those included in the same entry shall take simultaneously. Rule 2.—If any son or
daughter of the intestate had pre-deceased the intestate leaving his or her own children
alive at the time of the intestate’s death, the children of such son or daughter shall take
between them the share which such son or daughter would have taken if living at the
intestate’s death. Rule 3.—The devolution of the property of the intestate on the heirs
referred to in clauses (b), (d) and (e) of sub-section (1) and in sub-section (2) to section 15
shall be in the same order and according to the same rules as would have applied if the
property had been the father’s or the mother’s or the husband’s as the case may be, and
such person had died intestate in respect thereof immediately after the intestate’s death.

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