HC amends property ownership rights of Hindu widows
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stated that, under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, for a Hindu widow to get the complete ownership rights of a property belonging to her husband, she need not have to be in actual physical possession of the property.
The judgement was given by a division bench comprising of former Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, which set aside an order passed by a single bench in 1983. As per the 1983 order, the widow has to be in physical possession of the property in order to become its absolute owner.
The judgement came in with regard to a 50 years old litigation in which a bunch of appeals had been filed by three sons of late Bhagwan Devi over 12 pieces of property in Hoshiarpur. Family members of Devi had challenged her rights of executing a will as she was not in physical possession of the property belonging to her husband, who died in 1949. The third generation of both the parties were contesting the litigation.
Bhagwan Devi had executed a will on behalf of one of the sons. A senior lawyer Anupam Gupta appeared on his behalf and opposed the challenge to the widow’s right.
Co-relating the Hindu Succession Act with the Hindu Women’s Rights to Property, 1937, Gupta argued that for the first time in history, Hindu women were given right to property in 1937. However, this right known as Hindu Widows Estate was limited to her lifetime. And the property reverted to her husband’s heirs after her death, argued Gupta.
Relying upon judgments of the Supreme Court (Mangal Singh versus Rattano, 1967) and Madras High Court, the senior lawyer had claimed that even though the widow was out of possession, her mere right to succeed to her husband’s property expanded into an absolute right under the Hindu Succession Act.
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Hindu Succession Act, Hindu widow, Hindu widow property ownership rights, Hindu Women's Rights to Property 1937, husband's property, property ownership, Punjab and Haryana High court, widow rights, women right to property
