The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Bill, 2004

Introduced in the Rajya Sabha Monsoon Session, 2005. Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 deals with devolution of interest of a male Hindu in coparcenary property and recognises the rule of devolution by survivorship among the members of the coparcenary. The retention of the Mitakashara coparcenary property without including the females in it means that the females cannot inherit in ancestral property as their male counterparts do. The law by excluding the daughter from participating in the coparcenary ownership not only contributes to her discrimination on the ground of gender but also has led to oppression and negation of her fundamental right of equality guaranteed by the Constitution. Several states inlcluding Kerala have made necessary changes in the law giving equal right to daughters in Hindu Mitakshara coparcenary property. This amendment is proposed with the intention to remove the discrimination as contained in section 6 of Act by giving equal rights to daughters in the Hindu Mitakshara coparcenary property as the sons have. These proposals are based on the recommendations of the Law Commission of India as contained in its 174th Report on “Property Rights of Women: Proposed Reform under the Hindu Law”.