The Supreme Court of India, in upholding gender equality in inheritance law, ruled that daughters have the same rights of inheritance as sons with respect to commonly owned property partitioned after the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act.
The decree of partition shall be drawn by the trial court according to the parameters set forth by the Supreme Court.
This landmark decision clearly advances women’s property rights and gender equality, especially in light of the reality that daughters until recently did not have an equal claim on ancestral property in India. The decision categorically clarifies the legal position rooted in the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act (Act), that daughters now have the same rights as sons with respect to commonly owned property partitioned after the amendment to the Act, regardless of when they were born. This lessens the scope of misinterpretation of the relevant legal provisions by lower courts.
Danamma is particular relevant today, when women around the world still own less than 20 percent of the world’s land. Human rights mechanisms and UN bodies have strongly advocated for strengthening women’s rights to property, land and other resources through effectively addressing discriminatory laws and practices. In the context of gender equality and customary laws relating to succession, in recent years there have been significant jurisprudential developments in various countries, particularly in Africa, including Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa.
Special thanks to ESCR-Net member: Program on Human Rights and the Global Economy (PHRGE) at Northeastern University
Last updated on 18 July 2018