Chhattisgarh High Court: Daughter Cannot Inherit Father’s Property If He Died Before the 1956 Succession Act

The Chhattisgarh High Court held that under Mitakshara law, a Hindu daughter could not inherit her father’s property if he died before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, while a son was alive.

Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas ruled that succession in such cases would be governed by the pre-1956 Mitakshara law, under which even self-acquired property devolved exclusively upon male heirs.

The Court clarified that neither the 1956 Act nor its 2005 amendment applied retrospectively and affirmed that succession in such cases must be governed entirely by the traditional Mitakshara principles.

[Smt. Ragmania (Dead) through LRs v. Jagmet & Ors.]