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A Delhi court on Saturday upheld the inheritance rights of an adopted son of a Muslim man who passed away. According to Muslim Personal Law, an adopted child is not granted the right to inherit the property of parents. However, the Court in this case noted that the deceased Zamir Ahmed had exercised his choice under section 3 of the Shariat Act and had chosen not to be bound by Muslim Personal Law on the subject of adoption.
Noting that Ahmed’s adopted son will have all the rights and privileges as his biological son, the court of Additional District Judge Parveen Singh held that “Muslim Personal Law/Shariat is not automatically applicable to a Muslim. It will only be applicable to a Muslim where a Muslim chooses /elects to apply the said law to himself by making a declaration as required u/s 3 of the Act”.
The court was hearing a suit filed by one Iqbal Ahmed, the brother of the deceased man who was seeking share in his property in accordance with the Muslim Personal Law according to which one-fourth share of the property would go to the widow of Zamir Ahmed as the couple had no biological son.
The other people involved in this suit were six brothers and three sisters of Zamir who claimed 3/4th share of the property wherein the brothers would get double the share as the sisters.
According to Muslim Law of inheritance, there are three classes of legal heirs: sharers, residuary and distant kindred. The court noted that of the 12 Quranic sharers, only the widow of the deceased has survived.
The Court noted that since the deceased had elected not to be governed by Muslim Personal Law on the subject of adoption, the adopted son would now be a residuary instead of the siblings and was entitled to a share in the property along with the widow who was a sharer.
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