Children From Void Marriages Entitled To Parents’ Share In Property, Says SC

Relevance: GS2 - Constitutional Amendments; Judgements & Case; Prelims

(Source: The Hindu, 09/02/2023)

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Why in the news?

Recently, the Supreme Court ruled that children born out of invalid marriages can claim a right in their parents’ ancestral property under the Hindu family property governed by the Mitakshara law.

Background

• Earlier, the Supreme Court of India has reserved its judgment regarding the inheritance rights of children born from invalid, void, and voidable Hindu marriages.
• The apex court's verdict came on a 2011 plea pertaining to the legal issue of whether children born out of wedlock were entitled to a share in the ancestral property of their parents under Hindu laws.
• The issue in the case related to the interpretation of Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act 1955, which confers legitimacy to children who are born out of invalid marriages.
  • Section 16(3) states such children are entitled to inherit only their parents' property and will have no right over the other coparcenary shares.

About SC’s Verdict

• The key points of the verdict are as follows:
  • Children born out of a marriage that is null and void are considered legitimate under statutory law.
  • In cases where a voidable marriage is annulled, any child conceived before the annulment is deemed legitimate.
  • Equal inheritance rights have been granted to daughters.
• The court also questioned whether the share of such children is limited only to the self-acquired property of their parents under Section 16(3) of the Hindu Marriage Act.
• It was also stated that the children from such “void or voidable” marriages will not be able to inherit the ancestral properties of the coparceners other than their parents.

What does the Hindu Succession law say about void marriage?

• In a void marriage, the man and woman do not have the status of husband and wife from the very beginning. No decree of nullity is required to annul the marriage.
• In a voidable marriage, the man and woman are considered husband and wife until the marriage is legally annulled through a decree of nullity.

Mitakshara Law of Succession

• Mitakshara coparcenary is one of the Hindu law schools that governs the succession of property in a Hindu family.
• The Mitakshara school of thought holds that the son, grandson, and grandson's son have a right to the family property through birth.
• Mitakshara law of succession governing Hindu Undivided Families applies to the whole of India except West Bengal and Assam.

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FAQs

MCQ

Question: With reference to the history of ancient India, which of the following statements is/are correct? (UPSC 2021)

1. Mitakshara was the civil law for upper castes and Dayabhaga was the civil law for lower castes.
2. In the Mitakshara system, the sons can claim right to the property during the lifetime of the father, whereas in the Dayabhaga system, it is only after the death of the father that the sons can claim right to the property.
3. The Mitakshara system deals with the matters related to the property held by male members only of a family, whereas the Dayabhaga system deals with the matters related to the property held by both male and female members of a family.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 only

(c) 1 and 3

(d) 3 only