Women's Inheritance Rights
2 articles
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.
14 min readGujarat High Court: A Tribal Widow's Inherited Land Is Hers to Will Away, Absent a Proven Custom Barring Her
Deciding a second appeal over agricultural land in Surat district contested since 2002, the Gujarat High Court has held that a Scheduled Tribe widow who inherits property from her husband takes it as her own absolute, self-acquired property — free to bequeath it by will — unless a custom restricting female inheritance is actually pleaded and proved, not merely assumed.
13 min read