Facts for Prelims (FFP)
Source: IE
Context: The Supreme Court has ruled that children born from void or voidable marriages have the right to claim a share of their parents’ ancestral property.
- However, this right is limited to their parents’ share within the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) governed by Mitakshara Law and does not extend to the entire HUF’s property.
- It emphasized that these children would be considered legitimate and related by legitimate kinship under the Hindu Succession Act (HSA), 1956.
- Section 16(3) of the HMA, 1955 explicitly states that the conferment of legitimacy does not grant any rights to the property of anyone other than the parents.
About Mitakshara Law:
The Mitakshara school of Hindu law is a well-known school of thought that specifies procedures for succession and inheritance. The Mitakshara school of thought states that a son, grandson, and great-grandson have a right to family property through birth.
The Mitakshara School of Law is followed in every state in India, except for West Bengal and Assam. The Hindu Succession Act of 1956 governs Hindu family law.
Before the 2005 amendment of the Hindu Succession Act, a female could not be a coparcener and was not entitled to partition.
