PROPERTY RIGHTS OF REMARRIED HINDU WIDOW:KARNATAKA HC

PROPERTY RIGHTS OF REMARRIED HINDU WIDOW:KARNATAKA HC

BY- RAHUL AGARWAL 

BACKGROUND

Indian society has been evolving in terms of how widows are treated. However a few years ago, the Bombay High Court in the case of Jayalaxmi v. Ganesh Iyer in which the brother of a deceased man quoted the Section 2 of the Widow Remarriage Act 1856 and asserted that his sister-in-law who had remarried should not be allowed to inherit the property of her former husband. The court, however, ruled that a Hindu Widow has the Rights over her former husband's Property, even if she has remarried, as she would qualify as a Class I heir while the husband’s kin would be considered a Class II heir.

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KEY ISSUE

The Karnataka High Court in a recent case has observed that a Hindu Widow cannot be deprived of the Property Rights vested in her merely for contracting a second marriage.

The High Court, in a petition challenging this order, observed that it was not shown any provision of law or a ruling of the Apex Court or the other High Courts in support of the contention that the property vested in a widow goes out of her hands by devastation if and when she contracts a second marriage. Justice Krishna S. Dixit said that in our civilized legal system no widow can be deprived of the property vested in her on account of her contracting a second marriage, subject to any just exceptions.

Section 2 of the Widow Remarriage Act 1856 states that a Hindu widow shall use her right to property which she has inherited from her husband, no matter that she is contracting remarriage.

Wife is the class I legal heir of the husband after his death. Till the deceased husband don’t leave a will behind him mentioning the legal heir of him the wife of the deceased is the adjudged as the legal heir.

Article 15 of our Constitution guarantees the right to equality, here gender equality and therefore a widow has the right to remarriage and has the right to keep the property of her deceased husband after remarriage.

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CONCLUSION

While dismissing the plea, the court further said if remarriage of a Hindu widower is not a ground to divest the property vested in him, it strikes at the root of law, at reason and justice to divest a Hindu widow of the property vested in her only because she has contracted a second marriage, especially when the Constitution of India mandates Gender Equality.