ARUNACHALA GOUNDER (DEAD) BY LRS. versus PONNUSAMY AND ORS.

Citation: [2022] 1 S.C.R. 269 · Decided: 20-01-2022 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S. ABDUL NAZEER · Disposal: Appeal(s) allowed

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Judgment (excerpt)

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[2022] 1 S.C.R. 269
269
ARUNACHALA GOUNDER (DEAD) BY LRS.
v.
PONNUSAMY AND ORS.
(Civil Appeal No. 6659 of 2011)
JANUARY 20, 2022
[S. ABDUL NAZEER AND KRISHNA MURARI, JJ.]
Hindu Succession Act, 1956: Self acquired property of male
Hindu dying intestate – Right of daughter of such male Hindu to
inherit – Held: If a property of a male Hindu dying intestate is a
self acquired property or obtained in partition of a co-parcenery
or a family property, the same would devolve by inheritance and
not by survivorship, and a daughter of such a male Hindu would
be entitled to inherit such property in preference to other collaterals
– In the case at hands, since the property in question was admittedly
the self-acquired property of male Hindu despite the family being
in state of jointness upon his death intestate, his sole surviving
daughter will inherit the same by inheritance and the property shall
not devolve by survivorship.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956: Scheme of the Act – Held: The
main scheme of this Act is to establish complete equality between
male and female with regard to property rights and the rights of the
female were declared absolute, completely abolishing all notions of
a limited estate – The Act brought about changes in the law of
succession among Hindus and gave rights which were till then
unknown in relation to women’s property – The Act lays down a
uniform and comprehensive system of inheritance and applies, inter-
alia, to persons governed by the Mitakshara and Dayabhaga
Schools and also to those governed previously by the
Murumakkattayam, Aliyasantana and Nambudri Laws – The Act
applies to every person, who is a Hindu by religion in any of its
forms including a Virashaiva, a Lingayat or a follower of the Brahmo
Pararthana or Arya Samaj and even to any person who is Buddhist,
Jain or Sikh by religion excepting one who is Muslim, Christian,
Parsi or Jew or Sikh by religion.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956: s.14 – Absolute right of female
Hindu – Held: s.14 of the Act of 1956 declares property of a female
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS
[2022] 1 S.C.R.
Hindu to be her absolute property – The legislative intent of enacting
s.14(I) of the Act was to remedy the limitation of a Hindu woman
who could not claim absolute interest in the properties inherited by
her but only had a life interest in the estate so inherited – s.14(1)
converted all limited estates owned by women into absolute estates
and the succession of these properties in the absence of a will or
testament would take place in consonance with s.15 of the Act, 1956.
Hindu Succession Act, 1956: s.15(2) – Purpose of enactment
– Held: The basic aim of the legislature in enacting s.15(2) is to
ensure that inherited property of a female Hindu dying issueless
and intestate, goes back to the source – s.15(1)(d) provides that
failing all heirs of the female specified in Entries (a)-(c), but not
until then, all her property howsoever acquired will devolve upon
the heirs of the father – The devolution upon the heirs of the father
shall be in the same order and according to the same rules as would
have applied if the property had belonged to the father and he had
died intestate in respect thereof immediately after her death –
Applying the settled legal proposition to the facts of the case at
hands, since the succession of the suit properties opened in 1967
upon death of Kupayee Ammal, the 1956 Act shall apply and thereby
Ramasamy Gounder’s daughter’s being Class-I heirs of their father
too shall also be heirs and entitled to 1/5th Share in each of the suit
properties.
Hindu law: History and development – Hindus believe their
laws to exist in the revelations preserved in ‘Vedas’, Shrutis (that
which are heard and revealed) and Smritis (that which is remembered)
in contradiction to Shrutis – The Smritis comprise forensic law or
the Dharma Shastra and are believed to be recorded in the very
words of Lord Brahma – The Dharma Shastra or forensic Law is to
be found primarily in the institutes or collections known as
‘Sanhitas’, Smritis or in other words, the text books attributed to
the learned scholarly sages, such as, Manu, Yajnavalchya, Vishnu,
Parasara and Guatama, etc. – Their writings are considered by the
Hindus as authentic works – On these commentaries, digests and
annotations have been written – The commentaries by various
learned scholars have given rise to different schools of Hindu Law
- like Daya Bhaga in Bengal, Mayukha in Bombay, Konkan

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