Hindu Succession Act, 1956

The father of a divorced woman filed an FIR in 2021 alleging that his former in‑laws had retained the gold ornaments he had given as stridhan at his daughter's 1999 marriage. The daughter had divorced in 2015, remarried in 2018, and a separation agreement had already settled all marital property. The High Court refused…

The case concerned a partition deed dated 31‑January‑1970 in which a Hindu undivided family allotted agricultural land to two minor daughters of Vithaldas Jagannath Khatri. The State of Maharashtra challenged the exclusion of that land from the surplus‑land calculation under the Maharashtra Agricultural Lands (Ceiling …

M. V. Chandrakanth (appellant) challenged a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court that had set aside a Single Judge's order dismissing a writ petition filed by Respondent No.1, who claimed Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation as a member of the Ganiga caste. The central issue was whether a person belonging to th…

The case involved a partition suit concerning the ancestral and self‑acquired properties of the late Kumar Sahoo, claimed by his daughter Charulata Sahu and contested by the heirs of his son Prafulla Sahoo. The trial court issued a preliminary decree allocating a one‑sixth share to the daughter in ancestral lands and o…

The case concerned two joint family properties in Himachal Pradesh where the widow Jamni inherited her husband Hari Ram's one‑third share. Through a family arrangement she relinquished her share in one parcel (Chak Kaljer) and received the brothers‑in‑law's shares in the other parcel (Chak Nani), thereby becoming the a…

The testator, Raja Sardar Singh, died in 1987 without apparent legal heirs and had executed a will bequeathing his assets to the Khetri Trust. The Trust sought probate, which was dismissed by the Delhi High Court, while agnates also objected. The Rajasthan Collector, after an inquiry, initiated escheat proceedings unde…

The case concerned agricultural land in Karnataka where the original tenant, Gutya, executed a Will bequeathing his tenancy rights to his brother Timma. After Gutya's death, Timma cultivated the land and later applied for occupancy rights under Section 48‑A of the Karnataka Land Reforms Act, 1961. The High Court reject…

The appeal arose from a suit filed in 1988 by the great‑grandson and great‑granddaughter of Perumal Naidu (plaintiffs) seeking declaration and possession of properties that had been bequeathed by their great‑grandmother Alamelu Ammal to her sister Ramanujatha Ammal (defendant). The plaintiffs claimed that Alamelu held …

The case concerned the self‑acquired property of Sengalani Chettiar, who had two marriages. His son Chandran (the father of the appellants) executed a release deed in 1975, relinquishing any claim to the property in return for valuable consideration, and stating he would have no further connection except blood relation…

The case arose from a partition suit filed by the deceased Lajesh Saxena seeking a share in the joint Hindu family property. The trial court allotted shares, which the High Court altered by increasing the daughter’s share to one‑eighth and rejecting the validity of three wills under Section 68 of the Evidence Act. The …

The suit concerned a house inherited by the late K. Basavaraja Urs and his son K.B. Ramchandra Raj Urs (defendant No.1). Plaintiffs Sarah C. Urs and P. Chandrakantaraj Urs entered into an agreement to purchase the property on 24 April 1979, with the late father acting through his son as power of attorney. Rs.1,00,000 w…

The father of the parties, a self‑acquired owner of a house and a shop, decided to divide his property on 25‑Oct‑1992 but died on 10‑Sep‑1993. The surviving brothers recorded a memorandum of settlement on 9‑Sep‑1994, signed by their mother and sisters, allocating the entire property between them. The plaintiff sued for…

The case concerned the devolution of property governed by Marumakkathayam law in a Kerala joint family. The dispute arose over two sets of scheduled properties: one acquired through a 1950 partition deed and the other through a mortgage deed after the death of a male member. The key questions were whether a female’s sh…

The dispute concerned a house originally owned by Shri Kashirao Deshmukh, who died leaving his wife Smt. Shevantabai. The wife executed a gift deed in 1981 transferring the property to the appellant. The defendants produced a 1976 Will of the deceased, claiming it gave the wife only a life estate, rendering the gift de…

The appellant, Radha Bai, claimed a half‑share in a piece of land that was originally part of the ancestral property of her great‑grandfather Sukhdeo. After Sukhdeo's death in 1965, his two sons Janakram and Pilaram partitioned the land in 1967, giving Janakram the exclusive share, which he later sold to his grandsons …

The CBI appealed against the Delhi High Court’s order quashing a Special Judge’s grant of pardon to respondent No.2 (Abhishek Verma) under Section 306 of the CrPC, who had confessed to forging a fax message on the instructions of respondent No.1 (Ashok Kumar Aggarwal). The Supreme Court examined the scope of the court’…

The Kutchi Lal Rameshwarsram Trust and Anna Kshetra Trust claimed ownership of land in Haridwar, asserting that it had been held by the trust for over forty‑five years based on a will and a declaration by the original purchaser, Mohan Lal. The Collector, Haridwar, on a complaint that Mohan Lal had died without heirs, i…

The suit concerned a schedule property inherited by the mother (P) after her husband's death. After P's death, her daughter I possessed the property, but upon I's death, Defendant No.1 (a relative of P) took possession and claimed ownership based on a Will dated 18‑June‑1974 allegedly executed by P in favour of I. The …

The case concerned a consent decree dated 19‑08‑1991 that confirmed a family settlement whereby Smt. Jagno, a Hindu widow, transferred her half‑share in agricultural land to her nephews. The appellants challenged the decree on two grounds: (i) that the decree should have been registered under Section 17 of the Indian R…

The appellant, Varadarajan, sought to execute a decree in favour of the deceased decree‑holder Umadevi by filing an application as her legal representative under a Will. The Executing Court allowed the application, but the High Court, in revision under Section 115 of the CPC, set aside that order on the ground that the…

The appellants, the widow and daughter of Ishwar Singh, challenged the validity of Section 50(a) of the Delhi Land Reforms Act, 1954, claiming it violated Articles 14, 15, 21 and was repugnant to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 after the latter's Section 4(2) was deleted by the 2005 amendment. The Supreme Court held tha…

The suit involved a self‑acquired, intestate property of the deceased Pemmada Venkateswara Rao, which devolved equally among his wife, three sons and three daughters under the Hindu Succession Act. The plaintiffs sought specific performance of a sale agreement that was executed only by two of the six co‑heirs, who did …

The father of the parties died in 1948, leaving a daughter who was born ten days later. The mother subsequently adopted a son in 1949. The daughter filed a suit for partition of the family property, claiming a share as a coparcener under the pre‑1956 Hindu law. The High Court, applying the doctrine of relation‑back, he…

Dr. Hira Singh's 1944 will granted his daughter Shivdev Kaur a life interest in a property. After the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 came into force, Shivdev Kaur claimed that the life interest had crystallised into an absolute title under Section 14 of the Act. The lower courts held that the life interest remained restric…

The appeal concerned a partition suit filed by the daughter of Ramasamy Gounder, who claimed a one‑fifth share in property that was originally purchased by his brother Marappa Gounder in 1938. The lower courts held that Marappa died in 1949, that the property was joint family property and thus devolved by survivorship …

The dispute concerned 13.95 acres of land originally owned by Mardan, who died in 1951, before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 came into force. The appellants (descendants of Puni Ram) claimed exclusive ownership, while the respondents (Mardan’s daughters and their heirs) sought a share. The pivotal question was whether…

The mother and younger son filed a suit for partition, possession, declaration, injunction and accounting of properties claimed to be Joint Hindu Family assets against the elder son, his wife and other family members. The elder son’s wife (defendant No.2) and subsequent purchasers (defendants No.5 and 6) sought to have…

The appellants, daughters of the late T.G. Basuvan, filed a suit for partition and possession of ancestral lands that had been leased and later sold by their brother, the respondent. The trial court dismissed the suit, holding the daughters were not entitled to partition, a decision upheld by the High Court. The Suprem…

The appellant, representing the estate of Jagan Singh, sought a permanent injunction to prevent Dhanwanti, the widow of the testator, from selling a parcel of bhumidhari land that had been bequeathed to her with a restriction limiting her rights to her lifetime. The lower courts held that the restriction was invalid un…

The appeal concerned whether Bhonri Devi, a Hindu widow, became the absolute owner of an ancestral HUF house she occupied in lieu of her pre‑existing right to maintenance. The Supreme Court examined Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, interpreting "possessed by" and "acquired" in its widest sense to includ…

The appellants, who are the legal heirs of Dhaiya, a Scheduled Tribe woman, filed a suit for partition of land that belonged to their maternal grandfather, claiming that their mother was entitled to an equal share. The trial court and the High Court dismissed the suit, holding that the plaintiffs failed to prove any cu…

The case involves a property dispute between the branch of Lakshmiah Naidu (respondents) and legatees under a Will (appellants) of Rangaswami Naidu, who died on 01.06.1955 before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The appellants claimed that Rangaswami Naidu had severed the joint family status through a newspaper notice a…

The plaintiff, son of Guramma and the first defendant, claimed ownership of a property originally purchased by his mother and later mutated in his name after her death, asserting that the first defendant had relinquished his half‑share. The first defendant, who later remarried, contested this, arguing that mutation doe…

The Supreme Court examined whether the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 (sections 6(1), 6(3), 6(5)) operates retrospectively. The appellant‑appellants argued that the amendment should not apply to a daughter whose father, a coparcener, died before the Act’s commencement, contending that the amendment is prospecti…

The appeal concerned Mukatlal's challenge to a revenue suit filed by Kailash Chand, the adopted son and legal heir of the Hindu widow Smt. Nandkanwarbai, seeking partition of an unpartitioned joint Hindu family estate under Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Supreme Court examined whether a Hindu wido…

The case concerned a suit for possession of a shop in Ludhiana filed by the grandson and great‑grandson of Dr. Hira Singh, who claimed title after the death of the testator’s widowed daughter, Shiv Dev Kaur, who held a life interest under a 1944 will. The daughter had created a tenancy with the defendant and was entitl…

The plaintiff Rohit Chauhan sued to declare that his father's sale and release deeds alienating 104 kanals of land were void, arguing that the land was ancestral coparcenary property. The father, Guiab Singh, had received the land in a partition of his father's estate and later, after Rohit's birth in 1982, became a so…

In 1952 G. Pullareddy gifted a life estate in his share of family property to his wife Sheshamma, stipulating that after her death the property would pass to his minor son G. Ramireddy. After Pullareddy's death, Sheshamma executed relinquishment, sale deeds and a will. Ramireddy sued to declare those deeds void, and th…

Kirpal Kaur filed a partition suit seeking her late husband's share in a Delhi building (schedule ‘B’ property). The trial court and the Delhi High Court held the property to be self‑acquired by her father‑in‑law and denied her any share. On appeal, the Supreme Court examined the evidence, including the father‑in‑law’s…

The plaintiff filed a suit in 1964 seeking declaration of title and possession of agricultural land based on a will executed by Ajuddhibai. The trial court upheld the will, rejected alleged sale deeds and granted possession to the plaintiff. The defendants appealed, and the High Court reversed the decision, also reject…

The case involved three branches of a Mitakshara joint Hindu family that executed a partition deed in 1961. In 1969 the eldest brother of one branch, acting as Karta, and a cousin executed a relinquishment deed surrendering their branch's share in favour of the eldest uncle who had repaid a family mortgage. Four younge…

Narain Singh died intestate in 1952 leaving his wife Gurmej Kaur and three sons, including Pal Singh. Gurmej remarried later that year. Pal Singh died intestate in 1972 without issue, and his mother claimed inheritance of his estate. The question was whether Section 2 of the Hindu Widow's Re‑Marriage Act, 1856 barred a…

The case concerns the management of Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram, which has been historically managed by the Travancore royal family. After the integration of princely states, a Covenant in 1949 and the Travancore-Cochin Hindu Religious Institutions Act, 1950 preserved the Ruler's control over the …

The deceased Dr. Mahendra Prasad died in 2021 leaving three sons; one son, Ranjit Sharma, died after his father’s death and his wife Geeta Sharma filed a maintenance petition under the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, claiming she was a dependant. The Family Court dismissed the petition, holding she was not a…

The deceased B.R. Dewan owned a house which he bequeathed by will: the ground floor to his son Ranvir, the first floor to his daughter Rashmi, and a "life interest" to his second wife, Mrs. Pritam, to reside and collect rent. After his death, a dispute arose and Ranvir (appellant) and his mother sought a declaration th…

A suit for partition of a Mitakshara coparcenary property was filed by a son (respondent No.1) against his father, brother and two sisters (the appellants). The trial court passed a preliminary decree in 1999, amended in 2003, determining the parties' shares, but a final decree had not been rendered. While the suit was…

The appellants, who had secured admission to medical colleges in Madhya Pradesh through the Pre‑Medical Entrance Test (PMT), challenged the cancellation of their results and admissions on the grounds that the Vyapam Board was not validly constituted under the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board Act, 2007 and …

The Supreme Court examined the interpretation of Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 as amended by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. It held that the amendment confers coparcenary status on daughters—whether born before or after the amendment—on and from 9 September 2005, giving them the same rights a…

The dispute involved a landlord-tenant suit where the tenants claimed ownership of a shop based on a sale deed executed by a life‑estate holder, Janki Bibi (2nd). An earlier 1958 judgment had held that Janki Bibi possessed only a life interest and could not transfer the property. The Small Causes Court decreed the land…

The case concerned a perpetual leasehold Nazul plot in Allahabad that had been transferred to the Maharaja of Maihar and later bequeathed by the Maharaja to his second wife’s son. The appellant purchased the plot from the elder son, while the respondents claimed title as members of the joint Hindu family asserting copa…

The appellant, an unmarried daughter, sought to increase her share in a joint Hindu family property after the Karnataka legislature inserted Section 6A into the Hindu Succession Act, granting daughters equal coparcenary rights. A preliminary decree in the partition suit had already fixed her share at 1/28th, but the fi…

The appellants sought a declaration of title to a property in Pondicherry, alleging that a prior sale by a Hindu widow who held only a life estate was void. The trial court dismissed the suit for lack of a claim for possession, a decision upheld by the High Court, which also held that the widow had acquired absolute ti…

The appeal concerned the interpretation of Section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, specifically the interplay between sub‑sections (1) and (2) regarding whether a Hindu female's possession of property, whether by will, gift, or maintenance, confers absolute ownership or a restricted estate. The appellant, a purch…

The appellant, Kamla Neti, a daughter of a coparcener belonging to a Scheduled Tribe, claimed a one‑fifth share of compensation awarded for land acquired by the State, invoking the survivorship right under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Reference Court and the Orissa High Court rejected her claim on the ground tha…

Soran died intestate leaving two wives, a son and three daughters. Shingari, one of the widows, had a son Man Singh from a prior marriage. Man Singh sued Shingari claiming ownership of land based on a 1978 family settlement, asserting she held a one‑fifth share after Soran's death; the trial court decreed in his favour…

In 1966 a son filed a suit for partition of his parents' joint family property, which was decreed by compromise among the parents and three brothers. After the decree, in 2006 one of the brothers (Maya Prakash Jain) filed a suit claiming exclusive ownership of certain properties, asserting a later family settlement. Sr…

The appeal concerned a partition suit filed by the sisters of the deceased R.M. Patil seeking one‑fifth shares in five properties alleged to be self‑acquired by him. The appellant argued that the suit should fail for non‑joinder of his uncle, for omission of certain properties, and on the ground of ouster, claiming he …

Kannabiran Pillai executed settlement deeds in 1938, 1939 and 1943 creating a life interest in his second wife Kumudammal over certain properties, with the remainder to pass to Sri Ramakrishna Mutt after her death. Kumudammal occupied the property and collected rents from 4 March 1939, while Pillai managed it on her be…

The vendee, Kammana Sambamurthy, entered into a sale agreement with the vendor, Kalipatnapu Kamaraju, for an entire house, paying an advance of Rs.10,000. The vendor's wife, Kalipatnapu Atchutamma, later claimed a half‑share in the property under Section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act and sought cancellation of the agr…

The dispute concerned lands acquired by Parwatevva, a Hindu woman, after her marriage. The plaintiffs alleged that all the properties were joint Hindu family assets and sought a one‑third share for each son, while the defendants contended that the lands were Parwatevva's self‑acquired or stridhana property. The trial c…

The plaintiffs, heirs of Har Narain, sued the widow of Sheo Lal (C) for possession of a one‑sixth share of agricultural land after she died. The land had been subject to a 1932 compromise decree granting Sheo Lal only a limited, non‑transferable right to use the land, and upon his death, the widow would enjoy a similar…

The dispute concerned a property inherited by Phoolbasa Bai after her husband's death and a subsequent sale of a portion of that property to Mukesh Kumar Chourasia. The plaintiff, Ganeshram, challenged both the validity of a 1977 will favouring Phoolbasa Bai's brothers and the 1987 sale deed, alleging that Phoolbasa Ba…

Moola Gounder died intestate leaving two sons, his wife and three daughters. The father's one‑third share in the coparcenary property was to be inherited by the six legal heirs. The youngest daughter, then a minor, sued for partition, alleging that a release deed executed by her mother (her natural guardian) relinquish…

The case concerned the succession to the private properties of the late Raja Harinder Singh of Faridkot. The Raja had executed several wills, the last of which (dated 1‑June‑1982) purportedly left all his property to a trust for his two younger daughters, excluding the eldest daughter, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur. The eldest …

Two brothers inherited agricultural land in Himachal Pradesh; one brother sold his share to Babu Ram, prompting the other brother to seek a prohibitory injunction claiming a preferential right under Section 22 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The trial court dismissed the suit, but the appellate court held that Secti…

The case concerned the inheritance rights of three sons born to Laxman before his adoption in 1935 and a daughter born after adoption. After Laxman's death in 1987, the question arose whether the pre‑adoption sons could inherit the property of the adoptive family under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The Supreme Court …

The suit premises were originally let to the plaintiff's father‑in‑law in 1940; after his death the tenancy passed to his son Baldev, and subsequently to Baldev's wife Lalita. Upon Lalita's death, her brother Durga Prasad claimed to inherit the tenancy and resisted eviction by the landlord. The landlord filed an evicti…

The case involved a joint family property dispute among descendants of Pillappa, concerning the validity of two registered release deeds (1956 and 1967) and an unregistered palupatti (partition) deed of 1972. The plaintiffs argued that the releases were ineffective and that the palupatti could not be relied upon, while…

The case concerned a partition suit filed by E. Vanaja, the widow of a pre‑deceased son, seeking a share in the properties of her mother‑in‑law under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The trial court awarded her a one‑eighth share; the first appellate court reduced it to one‑sixteenth of certain schedule properties, and …

The case concerned a property bequeathed by P. Venkata Subba Rao in 1920 to his third wife Veeraghavamma for her lifetime as maintenance. After the husband's death, Veeraghavamma occupied the house, and the question arose whether her limited life interest under the Will became an absolute right under Section 14(1) of t…

The Supreme Court examined the definition of "respondent" in Section 2(q) of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, which limited it to an "adult male person". The Court held that this restriction bore no rational relation to the Act's purpose of protecting women from all forms of domestic violence a…

The Supreme Court heard Civil Appeal No. 1110 of 2006 (Ram Nath Sao @ Ram Nath Sahu v. Goberdhan Sao) concerning the partition of a Hindu Mitakshara joint family property. The dispute centered on the calculation of each member's share after successive deaths, the applicability of Section 3(2) of the Hindu Women’s Right…

The appellant, Saroj Salkan, filed a partition suit under Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act seeking division of five properties inherited from her father, Major General Budh Singh, against the legal heirs of her brother and sister. The Single Judge of the Delhi High Court dismissed the suit under Order XII Rule 6 o…

The deceased K. Satyanarayna died intestate, and his brother Karedla Parthasaradhi claimed inheritance of the suit house. Defendant Gangula Ramanamma (defendant No.1) asserted that she was the deceased's legally married wife, having lived with him for over three decades, and thus claimed ownership as a Class‑I heir. Th…

Jagbir Singh was convicted of murder (Sec. 302 IPC) and criminal intimidation (Sec. 506 IPC) for allegedly pouring kerosene on his wife and setting her ablaze. The victim gave three statements: two early statements (24‑01‑2008 and 25‑01‑2008) describing an accidental fire, and a later dying declaration on 27‑01‑2008 im…

The Supreme Court examined whether a Hindu widow’s mere possession of property, without any recognized claim, right or devise, converts her limited interest into absolute ownership under Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The appellant, Ajit Kaur, claimed that her mother Banti’s oral gift of the disputed …

Uttam filed a suit for partition of a property claiming a one‑eighth share as a coparcener, asserting that the land was ancestral. The trial court decreed in his favour, but the first appellate court reversed, holding that the grandfather’s death in 1973, leaving a widow (a Class I heir), invoked the proviso to Section…

The case concerned the share of Derha Ram, son of Kesar Bai, in Mitakshara coparcenary property of his grandfather Phannuram Sahu who died in 1959. Kesar Bai had filed a partition suit claiming her ancestral share; after her death, Derha succeeded to her estate. The trial court awarded Derha a one‑third share, but the …

The appeal concerned the inheritance rights of children born of void or voidable Hindu marriages who are legitimated under Section 16(1) or 16(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. The central issue was whether such children are entitled to a share in the ancestral or coparcenary property of their parents, or only to the…

The appellant, Arshnoor Singh, is the great‑grandson of Lal Singh whose agricultural land passed to his son Inder Singh in 1951, before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The property was partitioned among Inder Singh’s three sons in 1964, and the share allotted to Dharam Singh (the appellant’s father) remained coparcenar…

The suit concerned a partition of land and houses belonging to the late Dajiba, claimed by his four daughters and his wife Darubai. The daughters sought a 4/5 share, while Darubai, as the original defendant, argued she could sell part of the property as karta of the family under the doctrine of legal necessity. The low…

The case concerned a Will dated 15 April 1968 in which Tulsi Ram bequeathed half of his self‑acquired property to his second wife, Ram Devi, as a limited life interest, with the remainder to pass to his son, Jogi Ram, after her death. The question was whether Ram Devi’s interest became an absolute ownership under Secti…

Gurulingappa Savadi died in 2001 leaving a widow, two sons and two daughters (the appellants). A partition suit was filed in 2002 by one son, Amar, seeking a share of the joint family property. The trial court (decree 2007) and the Karnataka High Court denied the daughters any share, holding they were not coparceners b…

Bhulabhai Bhikhabhai, the Karta of a joint Hindu family, died intestate in 1947 leaving a widow, two sons and two daughters. When the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulations) Act, 1976 came into force, only the surviving son, Balubhai, filed a declaration under Section 6(1) claiming the entire land; the daughters made no c…

The appellant, an adopted son, claimed entitlement to half of his adoptive mother's joint family property and challenged two alienations— a sale deed (2007) and a gift deed (2008) executed by the adoptive mother after his adoption. The dispute hinged on whether the adoption of a widow’s son relates back to the husband'…