- Suchitra K. Mohanty
- for BBC Hindi
image source, REUTERS / ADNAN ABIDI
The Supreme Court has given an important decision regarding the distribution of property among Hindus. According to the decision of the Supreme Court, children born to a couple who have lived together for a long time without marriage will have part of the ancestral property.
Supreme Court Judge S Abdul Nazeer and Judge Vikram Nath handed down this decision. While giving this decision, the Supreme Court overturned the decision of the Kerala High Court, which said that the children of a couple living together without marriage cannot get a share of the family property.
In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court said, “Illegal children born to a couple who have been together for a long time without getting married will have a share of the family property.”
As for the couple whose case had reached the Supreme Court, the court said that couple had been living together for some time. He maintained his relationship as that of a married couple. Therefore, your child will be entitled to a fair share of the ancestral property.
Earlier, this matter had reached a lower court in Kerala. After that, the matter first came to the High Court of Kerala and then to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the minor.
What did the Supreme Court say?
The Supreme Court said: “We have studied the evidence of the accused. We believe that Damodaran and Chiruthakutty have stayed together. In this situation, the accused have not been able to prove that they are not married.
The Supreme Court upheld the court’s decision to order the division of the ancestral property and its fair share to the couple’s born child.
The Supreme Court said the documents presented to him by the alleged illegitimate son predate the dispute between the two parties. The other party in this case was the son of the brother of this alleged illegitimate son.
The Supreme Court said: “These documents and the evidence accompanying a witness show that Damodaran and Chiruthakutty have lived as husband and wife for a long time. The first plaintiff had joined the army. in 1963 and retired in 1979. He subsequently sued for the division of the prescribed property.
image source, Getty Images
What happened?
In this case, the petitioner, Kattukandi Idathi Krishnan and others were the plaintiffs, while Kattukandi Idathi Karunakaran was the defendant. He died while pending the case. Therefore, his legal heirs were registered as defendants in the case.
Plaintiffs said the property for which the case was being developed belonged to Kattukandi Idathil Kanran Vaidyar. They had four children: Damodaran, Achuthan, Shekharan and Narayanan.
The first plaintiff is the son of Damodaran, who was born of the Chiruthakutty alliance. The second plaintiff is the son of the first plaintiff. These litigants had claimed half of the assets involved in the case.
The Kerala High Court had said that the litigants would have no part of the common land as the marriage of Damodaran and Chiruthakutty was not valid. The High Court returned this decision to the trial court to reconsider the matter. But those who filed the petition challenged it in the Supreme Court.
What did the legalists say?
Commenting on this decision of the Supreme Court, the former judge of the Supreme Court of Allahabad, Sakha Ram Singh, described it as a good decision. “The decision has certainly defended the rights of the child,” he told the BBC.
“The illegitimate son of the couple who has been living together without marriage for a long time has been granted the right to family property,” he said. It’s a good decision. ,
Judge Singh said that even before that, the Supreme Court had ruled that the alleged illegitimate child should be entitled to ancestral property under the law.
He said: “In my view, this judgment is absolutely correct, even if it is not established that ceremonies involving a valid marriage in accordance with personal law (e.g. the Hindu Marriage Act of 1956) do not be marriage ceremonies.In this situation, the child born to a man and a woman who live together for a long time is entitled to a portion of the property.
Retired Judge Govind Mathur of Allahabad High Court said it is a good decision. Although this is not a new decision, but it is a good decision as it establishes trust in the child born of a couple who have been together for a long time without getting married.
He told the BBC: “The inheritance rights of these alleged illegitimate children are governed by the Hindu Merit Act of 1955, which states that these children will be partakers of their parents’ property.,
However, he also said that the Supreme Court has not clarified some aspects. As to whether Chiruthakutty’s first marriage is right or wrong, nothing has been said about it. Also, he has said nothing about his second marriage.
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Kamini Jaiswal
What effect will the decision have?
Anjana Prakash, a retired judge from Patna High Court and chief lawyer of the Supreme Court, told the BBC that there is a provision in the Hindu Succession Act to give property rights to alleged illegitimate children. In this their legal rights have been recognized.
He said: “Hindu inheritance law says about these children that they should be given property and other rights legally. Children born out of wedlock will also have rights over family property. This is the law of this country.
Kamini Jaiswal, the country’s well-known lawyer for criminal cases, said the Supreme Court had certainly made a good decision. He told the BBC: “However, this is not a new decision. They already had this right. The child born out of wedlock has the right to share ancestral or family property.
He asked why a child born out of wedlock should suffer? The boy’s parents have decided to bring him into this world without marriage. It’s not the child’s fault for this. But the Supreme Court has made a good decision on this. With this, these children will get their rights in this world. ,