The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, provides for the rights of Hindu daughters in ancestral property. According to the Act, daughters have the same rights as sons to inherit ancestral property as coparceners.

A coparcener is a member of a Hindu joint family who has an equal right to the property and its management. Prior to the amendment of the Hindu Succession Act in 2005, daughters did not have the right to be coparceners and could only inherit property as a limited owner. However, after the amendment of the act, daughters have the same rights as sons to inherit ancestral property as a coparcener.

It’s important to note that the right to inherit as coparcener applies only to ancestral property, which is property that has been inherited from the father, grandfather, or great-grandfather. Property that has been acquired by a person through his or her own efforts or through a gift or will does not fall under the category of ancestral property.

Daughter has right in ancestral property by birth

The Supreme Court has held in the Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, (2020) 9 SCC 1; that daughter gets right in the ancestral property by birth. She will get share in the ancestral property even if her father has died before the 20th September 2005. 

There was a contradiction in the two judgments of the Supreme Court. In Prakash & Ors. V. Phulavati & Ors., (2016) 1 SCC (Civ) 549, the Supreme Court has held that if the father has died prior to 20-09-2005 his daughters would have no right in the ancestral property.

But the decision of Prakash vs Phulavati case has been overruled by the Supreme Court so far as relates to the timing of father’s death. In Danamma @ Suman Surpur vs Amar (2018) 3 SCC 343, the hon’ble court gives judgment that daughter will have right in the ancestral property however, her father died before 20-09-2005. The court held that right of daughter is absolute and unconditional.

20-09-2005 is the date of enforcement of Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 1956. This amendment Act provides that daughter will also be a coparcener thus she is entitled to get share in ancestral property. 

When a contradiction arose in respect of when the daughter shall get share in the ancestral property, the Supreme Court (Justice, Arjan Kumar Sikri) has sent the Vineeta Sharma case before the full bench (three judges bench) to settle the law on this issue. 

Judgment of Vineeta Sharma

Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma is a landmark judgment of the Supreme Court of India which dealt with the rights of a daughter in the ancestral property. The case was heard by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court and the judgment was delivered on August 10, 2020.

The case involved a dispute between the daughter and the son of the deceased over the inheritance of the ancestral property. The daughter, Vineeta Sharma, claimed that she had a coparcenary right to the property under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, whereas the son, Rakesh Sharma, claimed that the property was his exclusive property.

The Supreme Court in its judgment held that the daughter has the same rights as a son to inherit the property of her father or grandfather as a coparcener. The court further held that the amendment to the Hindu Succession Act in 2005, which granted daughters the same rights as sons to inherit ancestral property, applies retrospectively to all living daughters of a coparcener as on 9th September 2005, regardless of when their father or grandfather died.

This judgment was a significant development in the rights of daughters in the inheritance of ancestral property in India, as it clarified that daughters have the same rights as sons to inherit ancestral property and that the amendment applies retrospectively to all living daughters.