Daughters' right to inheritance

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court observed that the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 2005 giving equal rights to daughters on the ancestral property will be applied to all women including to those born before the year 2005. The amended law treats daughters as 'coparceners' in a joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law since birth and would give them the same rights and liabilities as a son. The Court observed that a share in the ancestral property cannot be denied to any woman on the ground that she was born before 2005. The judgement further stated that the law is applicable in all property disputes filed before 2005 and pending when the law was framed. The judgement is a positive step towards ensuring the principle of equality and ensuring that daughters are treated with the same rights as sons. Earlier in 2015, the Apex Court had observed that for daughters to get share in the ancestral property, the father should have been alive in 2005 when the law was passed.