THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956

This article is written by Mahesh Chauhan of 3^rd Semester of Lloyd Law College, an intern under Legal Vidhiya

ABSTRACT

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, represents a significant legislative milestone in the evolution of inheritance law in India, aimed at addressing gender inequalities within Hindu family. This Act was enacted to codify and reform the laws governing the succession of property among Hindus and providing a clear framework for the distribution of both ancestral and self-acquired property. Prior to the Act, distribution of the property was largely governed by customary practices and religious texts, which often showed male primacy in inheritance rights.

This Act established equal rights for male and female heirs for the very time, specially granting daughters equal rights to inheritance alongside sons in ancestral property, thereby challenging traditional patriarchal norms. Furthermore, the legislation describes the categories of heirs and the order of succession, streamlining the inheritance process. It also introduced measures to safeguard the rights of women, promoting their economic independence and enhancing their status within society.

This paper critically examines the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 while assessing its impact on social dynamics, gender equality, and property rights within Hindu families. Through an analysis of subsequent amendments and judicial interpretations, the research highlights both the achievements and ongoing challenges in the implementation of the Act. Ultimately, the study aims to contribute to a broader understanding of how the Hindu Succession Act has shaped contemporary notions of inheritance and gender equity in India, while also identifying areas for further reform to ensure equitable rights for all heirs.

KEYWORDS

Hindu Succession Act, Inheritance law, succession, heir, Intestate, Patriarchy, Legal Reform, Amendments, Gender equality

INTRODUCTION

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, is an important piece of legislation in India that governs the inheritance and succession of property among Hindus. Before the enactment of the Act, Succession in Hindu families was primarily governed by customary laws, which also varied widely across different regions and communities and sometimes leading to inequalities, particularly in matters of gender.

As we have already read that, The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 is an Act relating to the succession and inheritance of property. The important feature of this Act is it lays down a comprehensive and uniform system that incorporates both succession and inheritance and This Act also deals with intestate or unwilled (testamentary) succession. Therefore, this Act combines all the aspects of Hindu succession and brings them into its umbrella. This article will further delve into more depth on the applicability, definitions, and basic terms related to succession in the contexts of both males and females.

The Hindu Succession Act recognizes the two main schools of Hindu personal law popularly known as Mitakshara and Dayabhaga and incorporates their principles in the context of inheritance and property rights.[1]

MITAKSHARA AND DAYABHAGA SCHOOL

Hindu personal law regulations largely derive from two educational institutions commonly referred to as Mitakshara School and Dayabhaga School. There are two types of property devolution, according to the Mitakshara School. Devolution of succession and Devolution by survival are these. Only property that is coparcenary or joint family is subject to the rule of survivorship. On the other hand, succession laws are applicable to an individual’s separate property. However, the Dayabhaga School emphasizes succession as the only means of property devolution[2].  

APPLICABILITY OF HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956

Section 2 of this Act specifies its scope of applicability.

This Act is Applicable to:

1. Any person who practices Hinduism, including those who follow Virashaiva, Lingayat, Brahmo, Prarthna, or Arya Samaj, or any of its variants or developments.
2. Any person who adhere to Buddhism, Sikhism, or Jainism.
3. Any person who is not a Muslim, Christian, Parsi, or Jew, unless it is demonstrated that such person would not be subject to Hindu law or custom.

This Act is applicable throughout India. However, this Section does not apply to any Scheduled Tribes as defined in Article 366 of the Constitution, unless otherwise specified by a notification from the Central Government by notification in the Official Gazette.[3]

Who is qualifies as a Hindu, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist?

1. A legitimate or illegitimate child, in which both of his parents are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains or Sikhs.

• A legitimate or illegitimate child, where one of parents is a Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh and is brought up as a member of the tribe, community, group or family to which such parent belongs.

• Any person who converts or reconvert himself to the Hindu, Sikh, Jain or Buddhist religion.

Basic Terms and Definitions

1. Agnate – The Section 3(1)(a) of the Hindu succession Act, 1956 defines ‘agnate’. If two people are linked by blood or adoption exclusively through males, they are considered agnates of one another.
2. Cognate – Section 3(1)(c) of the Hindu succession Act, 1956, defines a person to be a ‘cognate’ of another if such a person is related to the other either by blood or through adoption but not wholly through males.
3. Intestate – According to Section 3(1)(g) of the Hindu succession Act, 1956, Intestate is a person who dies without leaving behind a will. 
4. Heir – According to Section 3(1)(f) of the Hindu succession Act, 1956, heir’ is any male or female person, who is entitled to receive the property of the intestate. [4]

PROPERTIES WHICH ARE NOT APPLY TO THIS ACT

Section 5 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 lays down some properties that this Act does not apply to:

• Any property whose succession comes under the preview of the Indian Succession Act, 1925  or the provision under Section 21 of the Special Marriage Act, 1954, which specifies that the Special Marriage Act will govern the succession to any person whose marriage is solemnized under this Act as well as the property of the marriage’s issue.
• Any estate or property that passes to the single heir under the provisions of a covenant or agreement formed between the government and the ruler of an Indian state, or by any enactment formed and passed prior to the commencement of this Act.
• The Maharaja of Cochin’s Proclamation (IX of 1124), issued June 29, 1949, granted the Palace Administration Board the authority to administer the Valliamma Thampuran Kovilagam Estate and the Palace Fund.

FEATURES OF THE ACT

The importance of this Act lies in the fact that this Act provides uniform rules for succession and reduces the conflict that arose due to confusion over different rules based on the ideas of two schools. Other features of the Act are:

• This Act created a uniform system of inheritance and devolution of property which is applicable to both Mitakshara and Dayabhaga School equally. The applicability of the Hindu succession Act is explained thoroughly under Section 2 of the Act. However, it is also written that this act is not applied to people governed by the Special Marriage Act, 1954. 
• Another crucial feature of the Act is its overriding effect power given under Section 4. It repeals all the earlier laws, rules, customs, etc. which were applicable to Hindus with respect to succession. Any previous Act or law that is inconsistent with the provisions of this Act will be ineffective. 
• This act was also important in abolishing the concept of impartible estate and its succession by special mode. 
• Previously, the rule of survivorship in coparcenary property was only applicable to male heirs only. Female heirs were not recognized to the extent that they were not given the right to inherit by survivorship. But after the enactment of this Act, there has been a big change in this concept. In today’s time, if a male dies intestate, leaving behind a female heir, the property would devolve according to the provisions of this Act and not the rule of survivorship. 
• This Act provides order of succession or hierarchy of succession on the basis of doctrine of propinquity, i.e., nearness or closeness of blood, and gives four different categories that are:
  • Class I heirs
  • Class II heirs
  • Agnates ( individuals related to each other either by blood or adoption only through males) 
  • Cognates (Individual related to each other either by blood or adoption but not through males)
• The rules of Property succession are different for the males and females. Moreover, In the case of a male who dies intestate, Class I heirs are usually given preference over Class II heirs, and further Class II heirs are preferred over any other heirs. 
• Furthermore, This Act abolished the custom that women will have limited rights over the estate or property. But in today’s time everything has been changed to some time that women are the absolute owner of her property, irrespective of its source. Earlier, she was only a limited owner, and the rights to her property were exercised by her husband, but now all the rights are exercised by her, and she can even dispose off her property and take decisions. 
• This Act also recognizes and ensures the right of a child in the property who is in the mother’s womb. Section 20 states that a child who is unborn or still in a woman’s womb would also have the right to inherit the property, assuming that he has been born before a person dies intestate. 
• The Act under Section 18 clarify that full-blood relations are more preferred over the half-blood relations. Furthermore under Section 19 it explains the concept of the shares that are to be divided per capita or per stirpes (a division of shares in which share is given to a group of heirs as a whole) and such heirs inherit property as tenants in common.
• The Act gives a list of people that are excluded from inheriting a property on different grounds (murder, conversion). However, under Section 28 it abolished all the grounds that excluded a person due to his physical deformity or capability. It also secures the right of an illegitimate child to inherit property, which is confined to the mother’s property and not the father’s property.[5]  

DEVOLUTION OF INTEREST IN COPARCENARY PROPERTY 

Coparcenary are those people in a Hindu joint family who inherits or has a common legal right to their ancestral property. Such people are called coparceners. These are the successor of a common ancestor, and have acquired right to joint property by birth. This Act also provides for the devolution of interest in coparcenary property, and there has been a change in the dynamics with respect to coparcenary property due to the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. This is discussed in detail below. 

BEFORE AMENDMENT

As already mentioned, the Mitakshara School talks about two modes of devolution of property, i.e., one by survivorship and another by succession. The rule of survivorship relates to coparcenary property, while succession applies to the separate or self-acquired property of a person. We can say Coparcenary property as an ancestral property of a Hindu joint family and consists of:

• Property inherited by a person from their ancestors,
•  Property whose acquisition was done by the coparceners by taking the help of ancestral property, 
• Joint acquisition by coparceners, 
• Separate property of coparceners as common stock. 

Once a partition is done in a Hindu joint family the concept of coparcenary ceases to exist. Section 6 of the Hindu succession Act, 1956 provides for the devolution of interest in coparcenary property. Before the Amendment of 2005, if a person or any individual died intestate, i.e., without making a will, his interest in the ancestral property would be governed and devolved according to the rule of survivorship and not through succession. Furthermore it also prescribe that “if a person died intestate left female heirs mentioned in Class I, then the rules of succession would be applicable only”, which shows that the rule of survivorship was not given to female heirs nor they have given any rights to inherit property if male heirs were present. 

For example, if a person ‘X’ dies intestate, leaving behind his two sons, ‘B’ and ‘C’, and a daughter, ‘D’. His share would devolve on B and C according to the provision before the amendment. In the case of Satyendra Kumar v. Shakuntala Kumaru Verma (2012), the court held that if a person or coparcener gifts his undivided share in a coparcenary property as a gift and if there is no evidence or proof to show the completion of partition, such a gift will be void. 

AFTER AMENDMENT

With the changing in dynamics of the society, the position of the law with respect to coparcenary property has changed since the amendment of this act in 2005. Since the amendment it is a well- established law under Section 6 that daughters are coparceners by birth and have the same and equal rights as sons. Unlike before, she has all the rights to inherit coparcenary property like a son and would also have to fulfill the liabilities. All of this is applicable after the commencement of the amendment Act 2005. In addition, there will be no changes in any devolution done before 2004 i.e. before the amendment.  

Amendment Act, 2005 also provides that any property inherited by a female will be her own property, and she will be an absolute owner and not a limited owner. It further states that a coparcenary property will be devolved assuming that a partition has taken place with respect to such property, in which the daughters will also receive the same share as given to the sons. In the case of Ramesh Verma v. Lajesh Saxena (2017), the court held that the rules of succession will be applicable to separate property acquired by a person on division by notional partition. 

One of the clarifications done by the Madras High Court that unmarried daughters are coparceners by the birth and must be treated equally like a son and hence be given an equal share like him. The Amended Act also provides the right of married girls to seek partition is an absolute right and is not restricted by any limitation (Nagammal v. N. Desiyappan, 2006). In the case of Prakash v. Phulavati, 2016, SC held that the rights of daughters as coparceners under the 2005 amendment were not limited to their date of birth. Rather, they are entitled to be coparceners irrespective of their birth date.

SPECIFIC SECTIONS WHICH WERE AMENDED

The Hindu Succession Amendment Act of 2005 was enacted as an outcome of the suggestions made in the  174th Report of Law Commission’s regarding Hindu women’s rights over property. The Commission realized that property rules have been established for men’s benefit ever since the beginning of civilization and since then Hindu women were not allowed to use their property and keeping them reliant on men. The Commission counter to this injustice and asserted that it constitutes constitutional fraud. The Commission suggested amending Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act 1956 based and many others section on these results.

• Section 6: Significant change made in this section became a milestone in the history of women’s rights in property, the deletion of the old provision under Section 6 and the insertion of a new provision of the Hindu succession act. In this new amended provision, the daughter becomes coparceners in the property of the Joint Hindu Family by birth, acquiring similar rights and liabilities to that of a son.
• Section 24: This section was also further omitted with the amendment brought in 2005, which previously discriminated three categories of women related to the intestate as the widow of a predeceased son, the widow of a predeceased son of a predeceased son, or the widow of a brother, by virtue of their remarriage on account of the opening of the succession. 
• Section 30: Under section 30 of the Act, the words was changed from “disposed by him” to “disposed by him or by her” under new amendment, in order to make it gender-neutral which is the objective of this amendment.

 OTHER CHANGES DONE IN THE NEW AMENDMENT

The other changes are:

• Women have complete ownership over their property rather than being a limited owner. 
• Previously, the benefit of the doctrine of representation was given only to sons, grandsons, great-grandsons or pre-deceased sons. But after Amendment, it extends to daughters as well. 
• Abolishment of impartible estate and its succession. 
• It abolished the disqualification based on remarriage. 
• The act is not applicable to people governed by the Special Marriage Act, 1954. 
• The differences between male and female heirs were removed. 

CONCLUSION

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, represents a significant legal advancement in the domain of inheritance and property rights among Hindus in India. By codifying the principles of succession and ensuring equitable distribution of property this Act addresses historical inequalities, particularly regarding women’s rights. The inclusion of daughters as coparceners in the 2005 amendment further reflects the Act’s commitment to gender equality, reflecting a progressive shift in societal norms.

Although the Act offers a thorough framework for intestate succession, it also takes into account the various practices that exist within the Hindu community and recognizes the complexity of personal laws. There are still obstacles in the way of achieving equality, especially when it comes to putting its provisions into practice in various groups and areas. Overall, the Hindu Succession Act is a fundamental piece of legislation that continues to influence Hindu society’s conversation about social justice, inheritance, and rights. Its continued relevance is demonstrated by the way it adjusts to modern legal and social issues while advancing equity and fairness in the distribution of property.

REFERENCES

1. The Hindu Succession Act 1956.pdf , https://ncwapps.nic.in/acts/TheHinduSuccessionAct1956.pdf, (last visited Sep 18, 2024)
2. The Hindu Explains | What is coparcenary property in Hindu law, https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-hindu-explains-what-is-coparcenary-property-in-hindu-law/article32364484.ece, (last visited Sep 15, 2024)
3. Coparcenary under Hindu Law: An Overview of the recent Amendments, https://blog.ipleaders.in/coparcenary-hindu-law/, (last visited Sep 16, 2024)
4. Ishaan Banerjee and Monesh Mehndiratta, The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, https://blog.ipleaders.in/the-hindu-succession-act-1956/, (last visited Sep 16, 2024)
5. SSC ONLINE, https://www.scconline.com/blog/post/tag/coparcenary-property/, (last visited Sep 18, 2024)
6. Right by birth: On daughters and Hindu succession act, https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/right-by-birth-the-hindu-editorial-on-daughters-and-hindu-succession-act/article32347299.ece, (last visited Sep 19, 2024)

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[1] https://blog.ipleaders.in/the-hindu-succession-act-1956/

[2] https://blog.ipleaders.in/sources-schools-hindu-law/

[3] https://ncwapps.nic.in/acts/TheHinduSuccessionAct1956.pdf,

[4] https://ncwapps.nic.in/acts/TheHinduSuccessionAct1956.pdf,

[5] https://www.indiacode.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/5519/1/hindu_succession_act%2C_1956.pdf

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