An Amendment Towards Betterment

Both son and daughter have equal right to inheritance

There is an age old thinking for daughters ,that they are of the house in which they are being married and not of the home where they are born. This was evident from most of the ways in which daughters were treated including the daughter not having a right to have a property in the father’s will or the right was not equally divided between the two. As the succession equality and rights are important for the growth of the world and so came the change in the pattern of property succession. The supreme court in order to promote equality and also to secure living of a girl made a landmark judgement in the year 2005. As per decision of the supreme court, all the girls born before the hindu succession act 1965 had the right to their father’s property. The decision told that in the ancestral property, daughters would have the equal share as that would have in the property or any other ancestral possession..

The change was a landmark for all the future property and will before death related matters. The plea in the court was filed by to two sisters from Karnataka in the year 2002 ,who seeked their possession of their fathers property. The trial was held while seeing this case, but the judgement was not in favour of the petitioners . The sisters were not satisfied with the verdict and so decided to take the case to the supreme court appealing for amendment and after 16 years of rigorous fight in the court and they got justice which led to the formation of the time changing judgment .Further, there was an amendment in the right to property act of daughter , living in an HUF (hindu undivided family). Hindu undivided family was a name that was given the family possessing the concept of linearly descending from a common ancestor and were related to each other by either birth or marriage.

The amended law said that “ after the death of father, no matter whether the daughter is eligible as per age or not, she would have equal share as that of son in the property of father and not only the daughter, after her death her descendents would also have equal right on her mother’s inherited property.” The judgement was made by keeping in mind that daughter should be given equal right as that of the sons because she even is the “karta “ of the house ,as said in hindi and not only carried out the daily chores, also used to work for the family in an hindu undivided family. The daughter cannot waive of the right to property as per her wish and she has to be the owner of the descendent property until she dies.

The amendment was a landmark not only because of the changes it made in the constitutional decisions, but also of the steps it took towards equality. The decision told everyone that girls are no lesser than boys and they are to be given fair chance everywhere.