Female heirs win 30-year fight for share in ancestral home

The case dates back to 1995, when Jaswant Singh’s daughters and grandson filed a suit for partition of a house left behind by Uttam Singh, who had died intestate in the 1980s. Under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, his estate was to be divided equally among his three sons and two daughters, five heirs in all. Jaswant Singh’s branch sought a one-fifth share, maintaining that the property remained undivided and jointly held.

In 1996, a civil court in Jagadhri ruled in their favour, confirming joint ownership and granting a preliminary decree for partition. Two years later, an appellate court overturned the verdict, citing Section 23 of the Hindu Succession Act, a provision since repealed in 2005, which had restricted female heirs from demanding partition of a dwelling house until male heirs chose to divide it. The judge also held that the minor co-plaintiff could not sue until he reached adulthood.

Justice Pannu’s 10-page order has now reversed both findings. She clarified that even before its repeal, Section 23 never extinguished a woman’s ownership rights but only delayed possession until a male heir initiated partition. In this case, the presence of Jaswant Singh’s grandson, a male heir, as co-plaintiff removed any such bar.

“The embargo of Section 23 stood automatically lifted once a male heir sought partition,” the court observed, adding that “the female heirs’ proprietary rights could not be curtailed or whittled down.”

The judge also rejected the finding that the minor’s suit was invalid, holding that a minor can enforce proprietary rights through a natural guardian and that the suit had been rightly filed.

Justice Pannu found that the lower appellate court had “travelled beyond the pleadings” and ignored clear evidence that no prior partition had ever taken place. She upheld the trial court’s reasoning and held that the daughters’ and grandson’s claim was supported both in fact and in law.

Restoring the 1996 decree, the High Court reaffirmed the heirs’ right to their one-fifth share of the ancestral house through partition. The judgment reflects the principles introduced through the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, which removed gender-based barriers and recognized daughters as coparceners in ancestral property.

The matter, reserved on September 29 and pronounced on Thursday, brings closure to a three-decade legal battle that began long before gender equality in inheritance became the law of the land.

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