Chaini Parwani –
Published On: December 07, 2021 at 18:20 IST
The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to provide the Centre’s views on a flawed provision of the Hindu Succession Act.
Amicus Curiae Meenakshi Arora highlighted before a Bench comprising of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice A S Bopanna the harsh inequality in property succession as provided under the Act.
The Act states that on the death of an issueless Hindu married male, his properties would vest with his parents; in case of the death of an issueless widow, her properties, excluding those inherited by her from her parents, will vest not with her parents, but with her husband’s parents or relatives.
The Bench further expressed its concern to the preference in succession given to the husband’s relatives on the properties of a childless widow, and stated that is “clearly discriminatory”.
Further it was highlighted that if the childless widow sells the property that she hasinherited from her parents and utilizing the same money and buys another property then the newly acquired property would not be categorized as inherited property to vest with her parents after her death.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta noted that the flaws in the Succession Law highlighted by the Court with regard to an issueless widow may require Legislative Intervention by Parliament.
Furthermore, the Bench while acknowledging Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s statement stated that the Discrepancy, needs to be rectified either through Judicial or Legislative Intervention.The Bench then directed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to get the Government’s view on this issue within four weeks.