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The Delhi High Court has clarified that grandchildren cannot claim a share in their grandparents' property while their parents are alive. The ruling came in a case where a woman sought partition of her late grandfather's West Delhi property, arguing it was ancestral. Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav held that under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, property passes to Class I heir's spouse, children, and mother; not grandchildren if their parent survives. The court further ruled that property inherited from parents is an heir's absolute property, not automatically ancestral. The judgment underscores that grandchildren have no rights unless their parent is predeceased or a joint family estate is proven.
The Delhi High Court has ruled that grandchildren cannot claim a share in their grandparents property while their parents are still alive. Advertisement
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 is handed over to Class I 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 led by Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav ruled that the share inherited from parents is the individual's absolute property. The court noted that grandchildren who are not children of a predeceased child are not considered Class-I heirs. Therefore, under Section 8, the property cannot be considered to have passed to the plaintiff when her paternal grandfather died, as her father was still alive at that time.
The judgment confirms that a legal heir's share inherited from a parent is their absolute property and does not automatically become ancestral property.
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. Grandchildren seeking partition of their grandparents property must understand that they have no legal right while their parents are alive, unless they can prove the existence of a joint family property structure.
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