Bombay HC: Hindu Remarried Widow Has Right To Deceased Husband’s Property If She Wasn’t Remarried On The Day Succession Opens

By Legal Wires 5 Minutes Read

The Nagpur Bench of Bombay High Court has held that a re-married widow has the right to her deceased husband’s property if she was not re-married on the day the succession opens.

Jaiwantabai Wankhade v. Sunanda & Ors.

A Single Judge Bench of Justice SM Modak observed while discussing the provisions of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and the Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act, 1856 (which was repealed in 1983).

“There is emphasis ‘on the date when succession opens’ as per Section 24 of the Act of 1956. The status of the widow being remarried continuing to be widow must be on the date when succession opens. The wordings ‘if on the date the succession opens’ does not find place in Section 2 of the Act of 1856. So, we have to respect the intention of the legislators while incorporating these provisions in Section 24 of the Act of 1956.” the court said.

The court thus ruled, “In other words, if the widow has not re-married when the succession opens, the disqualification under Section 24 of the Act of 1956 will not be applicable.”

The Appellant Jaiwantabai Wankhade appealed against an order which allowed Jaiwantabai’s deceased son’s widow Sunanda to get all his retiral dues. Anil the deceased husband of Sunanda and son of Jaiwantabai used to work in Indian Railways as a pointsman.

He passed away due to an accident on April 19, 1991, at which time Sunanda was living separately from Anil due to disputes between them but, was still not married to anyone else or divorced from Anil. She eventually remarried about a month later.

In 1993, Jaiwantabai claimed her son Anil’s retiral dues with the Indian Railways and also informed them about Sunanda’s remarriage. The Railways passed an order in Sunanda’s favour.

Aggravated by the order passed by the Railways, Jaiwantabai challenged the order before a Civil Judge (Junior Division), who then passed an order saying both Jaiwantabai and Sunanda were entitled to the money but asked Jaiwantabai to file separate proceedings against Sunanda to recover her share.

Jaiwantabai challenged the order passed by Civil Court before the Bombay High Court arguing that Sunanda did not have any rights to Anil’s retiral dues because of remarriage.

Consequently, the court observed that as per Section 24 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 the widow was disqualified from claiming a share in properties only after getting remarried, and not if she wasn’t married “on the date when succession opens,” which, in this case, was April 19, 1991.

Therefore, the court upheld Sunanda’s right in her deceased husband’s retiral dues. However, the court also asked Sundanda to refund 50% of the money to her Jaiwantabai as the Railways had paid the entire due to her.

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