Review of Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 2005: Karnataka High Court Flags Drafting Gap Affecting Rights of Widows and Mothers
Background of the Case The Karnataka High Court has urged the Union Government to review the amended Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 , as modified by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005. The Court observed that while the amendment rightly strengthened the inheritance rights of daughters in coparcenary property, it has inadvertently created ambiguity regarding the inheritance position of widows and mothers , who were previously explicitly protected under the unamended provision. The decision was delivered by a Division Bench comprising Justice R. Devdas and Justice B. Muralidhara Pai . Issue Highlighted by the High Court The Court noted that: The unamended Section 6 expressly recognised widows and mothers at the stage of a notional partition . Their entitlement to a share in ancestral property was clearly protected. However, the amended Section 6 (post-2005) gives equal coparcenary rights to daughters, but does not explicitly refer to: • widows • mothers • widows of...