Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act 1937

Supreme Court Holds a Hindu Widow's Statutory Share Ripens Into Absolute Ownership Without Formal Partition

In Ganapati v. Prabhakar, the Supreme Court dismissed a decades-old title suit, holding that a Hindu widow's half-share on her husband's intestate death under Section 3(2) of the Hindu Women's Rights to Property Act, 1937 matures into full ownership under Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 without any requirement that she first obtain a partition or prove possession as owner — a widow's will disposing of that share, and a sale by her legatee, therefore stood.