Gender Disparity In Hindu Succession Law: Centre To Respond
New Delhi, April 5: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted four weeks time to the central government after hearing a petition on gender discrimination in Hindu succession law seeking appropriate direction to secure justice and dignity to women.
A three-judge bench, headed by Justice DY Chandrachud, asked the Centre to file its written submissions and counter reply next month. “The Centre will have to file their respective counter and written submissions in four weeks. We will after that hear the matter,” the bench said.
The petition was filed by Kamal Anant Khopkar and it said Section 15 of the 1956 Act mandates how the husband’s heirs have the first right over the self–acquired property of a woman who dies intestate. That is, the husband’s family comes first in the line of inheritance even before the dead woman’s own parents.
Section 15 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, gives priority to the heirs of the husband over the parents of the deceased. If a Hindu woman dies without making a will, her husband can take all her property without leaving any share for her own mother or father.
