RIGHTS OF WOMEN UNDER HINDU SUCCESSION
ACT, 1956
“The
worth of a civilization can be judged by the place given to women in the
society.” [1]
Gender equality is a continuing battle that
every single person is fighting daily, even though we have gone a long way from
our previous conventions and norms in which both genders were not considered
equal. Changes emerge as people grow more educated and conscious of society,
resulting in a more awake society. We can't envisage erasing inequality in a
flash, as if empowerment or education were magic wands that could make gender
inequity disappear with a swish and flick of the wrist. The 1956 Hindu inheritance
law was heralded as a watershed point in Indian history; it was a single sweep
of the wand that destroyed the patriarchal framework prevalent in Indian
culture, where only men-owned and inherited property. Streedhan was the only
place where the concept of female ownership existed in its most sophisticated
and limited form. This rule turned Hindu women's restricted property into a
free property, giving them the sole proprietors of their property and removing
any limits on how they may dispose of it. It strengthens women's economic power
and provides them with economic and social independence.
Ancient Hindu law was said to be particularly
severe on women, restricting them sexual and economic freedoms. "A woman
must rely on her father when she is young, on her husband when she is young,
and on her sons when she is young," Manu Smriti says." She was never
allowed to be free." It is also thought that the entrance of modernism
during colonial times contributed to the loosening of this rigorous sexual
control by allowing women to hold property. The 1956 statute does not address
specific instances of discrimination against Hindu women in terms of their
property rights. As a result, in 2005, the government revised the 1956 law to
boost the economic ability of Hindu women, fifty-eight years after
independence. The law, which was passed on September 5, 2005, is regarded as a
watershed moment in Hindu women's rights history. Despite the innovative
provisions of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956, Hindu women in Indian society
as a whole were still denied property rights. It's merely a rule of thumb.
Despite the fact that the law made revolutionary
changes, it was largely ignored by family members because the regulations were
incompatible with Hindu social ethics. There is a significant distinction
between existing law and the law as it applies. It is frequently harmed by
incidents of overt discrimination. In theory, all of these policies are
excellent, but the difficulty is enforcing women's property rights, not just acknowledging
them. Realist practice, based on the socialist viewpoint, will confront several
obstacles as a result of orthodox and traditional societal standards. May the
majestic guarantees of our constitution or the generous endowments of our laws
not deceive us or distract us from the fact that we live in a society where men
have control over women, where women see internal gender status as a personal
failure, and where men see gender status as a personal failure. Women's
emancipation is still far from complete. Nothing is fair when it comes to the
fairer sex. Women are still uneasy about inheritance law, although it is
changing.
The most
recent proposal to modify the Hindu Succession Act 2005 (Amendment) marks a
significant step forward for women's rights. Under the law, women have
unlimited and equal inheritance rights. It converts a girl into a coparcener
with the same rights as a male kid, and she can now also be Karta, thanks to a
2005 amendment law. The 2005 law addresses inequity in ancestral property,
housing, and widows' rights, as well as adding certain new heirs to the list of
Class I heirs, which safeguards their rights.
It goes much beyond ensuring social justice and
equality for women. It repeals an ancient Hindu law that deprives women of their
property rights. This law is well received by the Hindu female community. In
Mitakshara, a Hindu girl was also born with a silver spoon in her mouth. Her
rights are equal to those of her male companion. She does, however, have the
same responsibilities as men when it comes to sharing. She might petition for
the division of her residence under the new statute of 2005. The prohibition on
a widow's remarriage prohibiting her from inheriting her husband's property has
also been repealed.
The Supreme Court of India issued a major
judgement in Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma on January 18, 2020, declaring the
Hindu Succession (amended) Act 2005 to be retroactive. Section 6 of the law was
updated in 2005 to conform with constitutional values regarding gender equality.
A daughter of a common ward at birth will become a full ward in the same way as
a boy under the amendment. The Vineeta Sharma case investigated whether the
2005 amendment deemed girls to have the same rights as sons in joint property,
regardless of whether the father was living or not at the time of the
amendment.
Section 6
of the Hindu Succession Act 1956 was amended, and a new clause was added that
stated that at birth, a daughter becomes the joint guardian of the property of
a common Hindu family and has the same rights and responsibilities as males.
Women's property rights are determined by their standing in the family and
their marital status, whether they are girls, married, single, or abandoned.
The same is true regardless of the sort of property involved, whether it's
ancestral, self-owned, or marital property.
Changes are done on an equal footing, to
eliminate the disadvantages and prejudices that girls face. Girls share
ownership of property with their male counterparts and are entitled to an equal
share of it. Daughters have a legal claim to the property divided and
distributed according to the will. Even according to Dharmashastras, the status
of Hindu women is always susceptible to that of male family members. That is
why, when the Hindu Law of Succession was enacted in 1956, the legislators did
not see the need to provide the daughter rights in the father's property, based
on the idea that the daughter was now a member of another family and should not
be entitled to inherit her father's property.
However, with the 2005 amendment, the
constitution's promise of equality was reinstated, and clauses were added that
allowed equal boys and daughters in a combined Hindu family. Although there is
some question about a legitimately adopted daughter, as the phrase is not
referenced anywhere in the amended statute, and his rights to inherit his
father's property remain unclear. Furthermore, because the status of a son or
daughter is likewise provided for in Article 6 of the Law, the children of a daughter
shall be considered co-parents in the same way that the children of a son are.
As a result, this is the most notable achievement in the context of Hindu
women's status in society before the amendment's enactment.
[1]
20th WCP: Status of Women in Indian Society (bu.edu)
* Student of BBA.LL.B, MIT World Peace University , Pune
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