Grandchildren cannot lay claim to grandparents’ property if parent is alive, rules High Court
Inheritance law: The Delhi High Court ruled on a case where a man sought to dismiss his daughter’s claim to property he had inherited from his father
The Delhi High Court has ruled that grandchildren cannot claim a share in their grandparents’ property while their parents are still alive. Legal experts noted that the judgment underscores how the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 has significantly changed the notion of automatic inheritance rights in ancestral property. They emphasised that grandchildren seeking partition must recognise they have no legal claim to their grandparents’ property during their parents’ lifetime, unless specific conditions regarding the creation of joint family property are met and properly demonstrated.
The Delhi High Court has ruled that grandchildren cannot claim a share in their grandparents’ property while their parents are still alive. Legal experts noted that the judgment underscores how the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 has significantly changed the notion of automatic inheritance rights in ancestral property. They emphasised that grandchildren seeking partition must recognise they have no legal claim to their grandparents’ property during their parents’ lifetime, unless specific conditions regarding the creation of joint family property are met and properly demonstrated.
The case concerned a woman who filed a civil suit seeking a declaration of her share in a West Delhi property owned by her late grandfather. The court clarified that, under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, the property of a deceased Hindu devolves upon Class 1 heirs, which include the deceased’s widow, sons, daughters, and mother but not grandchildren whose parents are alive.
The woman had filed the suit against her father and aunt, seeking partition and a declaration that she was entitled to one-fourth of her father’s half share in the property. She contended that the property was ancestral and therefore exempt from the provisions of Section 8 of the HSA.
A bench of justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav held that the share inherited from parents constitutes an individual’s absolute property. The court delivered the verdict on Tuesday, dealing with a man’s petition seeking rejection of a suit filed by his daughter, claiming share of the property he has inherited from his father, a report published in the Hindustan Times newspaper said.
The woman’s grandfather, who owned a property in southwest Delhi’s Janakpuri, passed away without leaving a will in 1994. He was survived by his widow, a son, and a daughter. Following the death of the grandmother in 2023, the woman initiated a partition suit concerning the grandfather’s property, naming her father and paternal aunt as parties.
In his petition, the woman’s father, represented by advocate Vineet Jindal, asserted that the share in the suit property devolved solely on him and his sister under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, and his daughter was not entitled to any share. To be sure, as per section 8, if a male Hindu dies without a will, his property devolves on his heirs to the exclusion of all other persons, the report said.
The woman, on the other hand, argued that she was entitled to the share inherited by her father, since her grandfather’s property was ancestral.
Rejecting the woman’s suit, justice Kaurav, in his 11-page verdict, released on Thursday, said that under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, grandchildren do not automatically acquire a share in the property inherited by their father and that they have a right if their father dies before the grandfather, the Hindustan Times report said.
“It is pertinent to note that grandchildren, who are not children of a predeceased child, are not included in the list of Class-I heirs. Therefore, if Section 8 is correctly appreciated, the suit property cannot be deemed to have devolved on the plaintiff upon the death of her paternal grandfather, her father being alive at the time of death of the grandfather. The suit property devolved solely on the defendants and their mother,” the bench ruled.
“On an appreciation of the provision under Section 8 of the HSA and the aforenoted decisions, it could be concluded that the share of defendant no. 1 in the suit property is his absolute property, and the plaintiff does not have any right in the same. The right asserted by the plaintiff is not recognised by the rules of succession as per Section 8 of the HSA,” it said.
This is what legal experts have to say
The Delhi High Court recent judgement in the matter of Kritika Jain v. Rakesh Jain and Ors., reaffirms that grandchildren do not have a right on the self-acquired property of the grandparents, when the parents are alive.
Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 stipulates the rules of succession in regard to the property of a male Hindu dying intestate. The property of a male Hindu dying intestate devolves upon his Class I legal heirs, that is, his son, daughter, widow, and mother with each getting an equal share in the property left behind by the deceased male. Grandchildren whose parents are alive are not included in Class I heirs, explains Sunil Tyagi, Managing Partner, ZEUS Law Associates.
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It would also be relevant to mention that when a Hindu male dies intestate, the property inherited by a legal heir is absolute and acquired on an individual capacity and not as an ancestral property. The grandchildren shall have no share in the property until their parent who is the class I heir is alive and it is only in case of intestate death of such parent during the lifetime of the grandparent that the property of the grandparent will devolve on the grandchildren, said Tyagi.
This judgment serves as an important reminder that the concept of automatic rights in ancestral property has been significantly altered by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Grandchildren seeking partition of their grandparents’ property must understand that they have no legal right to such property while their parents are alive, unless specific conditions regarding the creation of joint family property are met and properly demonstrated, he added.
