Hindu Succession Act - Demystifying Stridhan and Women's Estate

12/15/2020 Hindu Succession Act: Demystifying Stridhan and Women’s Estate By: Milind Rajratnam
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By : Milind Rajratnam O P Jindal Global University

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Introduction Publish Your Article
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procedure to be followed by
In ancient times, the property rights of women were suppressed Campus Ambassador
a Court when a case record
goes missing? [Read to a large extent. According to Manu, a son, a wife and a slave Campus Ambassador
Judgment] do not have property rights and if they acquire any property by
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their own, then that property will belong to the male under
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whose protection they are living. The daughter’s right to inherit
Court grants bail to Shah was also disputed as she was entitled to inherit only if she was a Campuss Buzz
Alam in Delhi Riots case; ‘putrika’, meaning brother-less girl. It was only because of the campuss Buzz
states he can’t be denied bail
efforts of some social reformers that the Hindu Women’s Right
just because he is Tahir
to Property Act was enacted in the year 1937[i]. Under the said
Hussain’s brother [Read
Act, the ideology of all the schools of Hindu Law was amended
Order]
in a way so as to give greater rights to the Hindu women.
Bar Council of Delhi.jpg
BCD raises concern over This Act brought about revolutionary changes by affecting not
Farms Laws; proposes only the law of coparcenary but also the law of alienation,
changes for consultation
inheritance, partition and adoption[ii]. It enabled a widow to
with farmers
take an equal share to that of her son but disentitled her from
becoming a coparcener and therefore, the widows had only a
0198273c9ff540840b53a8a7eed
limited estate in the property of her deceased husband with the
Let’s talk about IPR right to ask for partition. Although the object of the Hindu
Campaign “Kapila” Women’s Right to Property Act was to enlarge the property NALSA
M J Akbar
rights of all the Hindu women in general, it only satisfied with National Legal Services
strengthening the rights of widow and not the rights of women Authorities(NALSA)
#MeToo: Women speaking
as a class. The position of daughters right of inheritance was
up against M J Akbar
required celebration and not also left untouched as by the said Act of legislature[iii].
https://www.latestlaws.com/articles/hindu-succession-act-demystifying-stridhan-and-women-s-estate-by-milind-rajratnam/#:~:text=Stridhan is the property that,made before the nuptial fire.&text=Gifts that are made by … 1/9
prosecution, Priya Ramani After facing a lot of criticism on the Hindu Women’s Right to LatestLaws Partner Event :
tells Court in Defamation 6 Hour Online Mediation
Property Act, the Parliament decided to come up with an
Case Final Hearing Training Programme
improved legislation dealing with the property rights of women
6 Hour Online Mediation
Banner.jpeg and enacted the Hindu Succession Act, 1956[iv] (hereinafter
Training Programme
‘HSA’). Section 14 of HSA conferred absolute property rights
AILF Presents First National
Mega-Webinar Series on
on women. In this article, the author is analyzing the nature,
scope and objective of Section 14 of HSA in light of Stridhan. Dee Gee
Intellectual Property Rights
(20 Dec- 29 Dec): Register Dee Gee
by 19 December What is Stridhan?
Farmer Protest.jpg
Under Hindu law, the property that can be held by a woman is
Farm Laws 2020: Amid
divided into two categories, i.e., Stridhan and Non-Stridhan.
intensifying protests, UP
BJP to launch campaign to The word ‘Stridhan’ is constituted of two words namely, ‘stri’
explain the three Laws meaning woman and ‘dhana’ meaning property. Stridhan is the
property that is given to a women at the time of her marriage.
Sheikh Mohammed bin
According to Mitakshara and Dayabhag, the following in the
Rashid Al Maktoum.jpg
hands of a women (maiden, married or widow) constituted
Sheikh Mohammed issues
Stridhan;
Law regulating expert
witness profession in Dubai
1. Gifts that are made before the nuptial fire.
2. Gifts that are made at the time of bridal procession.
3. Gifts that are made by mother-in-law or father-in-law as a token
of love at the time of her marriage. And,
4. Gifts that are made by the mother, father and brother of the
women.[v]
The question of whether a particular property is the Stridhan or

not is also dependent upon the source of acquisition of that
particular property and the marital status of woman at the time
of such acquisition. The gifts and bequests that are made from
strangers to the women when she was maiden, married or
widow is also her Stridhan.
Difference between Stridhan and Dowry
Although ‘Stridhan’ and ‘Dowry’ are entirely different, they are

generally misconceived to mean the same. Under the domestic
law, dowry means any property or valuable security that is given
or agreed to be given by the bride’s side to the bridegroom’s
family before, after or during the time of marriage. The main
difference between ‘dowry’ and ‘Stridhan’ is the element of
“demand, undue influence or coercion” that is present in the
former but absent in the latter. Stridhan is a gift that is
voluntarily given to the women and it is not the result of
demand, undue influence or coercion. The courts have also laid
down the differentiation between Stridhan and dowry in a
number of cases. The main reason of courts behind
differentiation is that in case the marriage breaks down in the
future, the women will have the option of retrieving the gifts
that she received as Stridhan which is not the case with gifts
received as dowry.
The Supreme Court after observing the plight of an estranged

woman laid down the difference between dowry and Stridhan in
the case of Pratibha Rani V. Suraj Kumar[vi]. It held that the
woman is the absolute owner of her Stridhan and she can use it
the way she wants to. It also held that in ordinary circumstances,
the husband will have no right or interest in the Stridhan

nonetheless in times of extreme distress he can use that but has
to restore it back when he is able to do so.
Women’s Estate and her rights over it
Yajnavalkya’s text has expanded the meaning of Stridhan to

include all the properties that are obtained by a woman by virtue
of inheritance, partition, seizure, purchase and findings. But the
privy council did not accept the expansion prescribed by
Yajnavalkya’s text and this has resulted in the emergence of the
concept of Women’s estate[vii].
The following are the two categories which are considered as

woman’s estate:
(i) Property obtained by inheritance – Under the Bombay

School, a property that is inherited by a female from another
female also comes within the ambit of Stridhan. Therefore,
according to this concept, everything that is voluntarily given by
someone to a female will be her Stridhan.
(ii) Share obtained on partition – On partition a female is

entitled to obtain her fair share in the property but she
undertakes it only as a limited owner as her rights are subject to
two limitations, i.e.;
She cannot alienate the corpus in the ordinary manner, and

After her death, her property will be entrusted to the next heir of
the last full owner.
These limitations were also pointed out by the privy council in
Janki v. Narayansami[viii], where it was held that although the
position of a women with respect to her property is that of an
owner, she cannot dispose it off on her whims and fancies as she
has only limited power over the disposal of such property. It
further held that these limitations on the ownership of women
are imposed in order to benefit the person who has interest in
the property of the women after her death, i.e. her son, her
daughter or even her husband.
Sources of women’s estate
The following types of properties will constitute a women’s

estate:
(i) Proper received in lieu of Partition: Under Section 14 of

the HSA, any property that a Hindu female gets in lieu of
partition after the commencement of the Act will be her absolute
property and the property that she got in lieu of partition before
the commencement of the Act will also be her absolute property,
provided that it was in her possession during that time.
In Chinnappa Govinda v. Vallaimmal[ix], the father-in-law

died after giving some property to her widowed daughter-in-law
under a maintenance deed for the purpose of her maintenance.
At the time of partition of coparcenary propety, the daughter-in-
law asked for her share for maintenance but the other family
refused to give her on the pretext that she has to include the
properties that were given to her in the maintenance deed in
order to claim her share from the coparcenary property. In this
case, the court ruled in favor of the daughter in law and held that
she need not to surrender the properties that were held by her
under the maintenance deed as nowhere in the maintenance
deed the father has mentioned to do so.
(ii) Property given under an Award or Decree: The Supreme

Court in Badri Prasad v. Kanso Devi[x] held that although a
woman’s share may be limited estate in the decree or award, a
property obtained by her in a partition is her absolute property
under Section 14(1) of HSA. The judges were of the opinion
that Section 14 of the HSA has to be read as a whole and not in
part because they seem more complementing when read
together than individually. Also, whether a property belongs to
subsection (1) or (2) depends upon the facts and circumstances
of each case.
(iii) Property under an agreement or compromise: The

distinction between Sections 14(1) and 14(2) was laid down in
Mahadeo v. Bansraji[xi] and also in Lakshmichand v.
Sukhdevi[xii]. The courts laid down certain tests for the
determination of distinction between the both and held that if
the decree or award is the recognition of a pre-existing right,
then Section 14(1) will apply and it the property is given under
an award to the female for the first time, then Section 14(2) will
apply.
(iv) Property received in inheritance: According to Section 14

of HSA, any property that is inherited by a Hindu female from
any of her relations after the commencement of the Act, will be
her absolute property and after her the death, the property will
devolve upon her heirs in accordance with Sections 15 and 16 of
the Act. Even if the woman has inherited the property before the
commencement of the Act, if it is in her possession then no one
can devoid her of that property and it will be her absolute
property.
(v) Property received in Gift: The Hindu Succession Act has

not made any distinction between the gifts that are received
from the relatives of the woman and those which are received
from strangers, therefore, all the gift that she receives becomes
her absolute property. In Vinod Kumar Sethi v. State of
Punjab[xiii], the Punjab High Court went a step further and
held all the traditional presents that are made to a woman at the
time of her marriage will constitute her Stridhan, including the
dowry too.
(vi) Property received under a will: In the case of Karmi v.

Amru[xiv], a Hindu male conferred his life estate on his wife
Nihali under a registered will, with a direction that after the
death of his wife, the property will devolve upon his two
collaterals namely Bhagtu and Amru. The wife died in the year
1996 and the collaterals took the possession of the property and
the court held that the said possession is valid as a property
received by a woman under a will is her absolute property.
Women’s power over her estate
A woman has the following powers over her estate:
(i) Power of Management – The power of women over her

estate is slightly superior to that of Karta as due to the presence
of other coparceners, the Karta is merely a co-owner of the joint
family propert, but the woman is sole owner of her property.
She is solely entitled to the possession, maintenance and income
from her estate. She also has the power to spend the income at
his own discretion that is generated from her estate, and if she
saves that income, then it will be her Stridhan. Only she can be
sue on behalf of her estate and be sue in respect of it and no one
else. The woman continues to be the owner of her estate, until
forfeiture by re-marriage, surrender, adoption or death.
(ii) Power of Alienation – A woman has limited rights of

alienation over her property and she can alienate only in
exceptional circumstances. Those exceptional circumstances
being legal necessity, benefit of estate or the discharge of any
indispensable duty.
(iii) Surrender – Surrender means renunciation of estate by the

female owner[xv]. Surrender may be done voluntarily by the
woman during her lifetime or automatically by her death. The
woman has the power of renouncing her estate in favour of her
nearest heir and the self-effacement on her part will operate as
her civil death.
There are some preconditions that need to be fulfilled for a valid

surrender, viz. the surrender must be of the entire estate (she
may retain a small portion for her maintenance), the surrender
must be in favour of her nearest heir or the heirs of the last
owner (such heirs are termed as “reversioners”) and the
surrender must be made with a bonafide intention (not as a
device of dividing the estate among with the reversioners)[xvi].
After such surrender, the property will delve upon the

reversioners. These reversioners also have the right to prevent
the female owner from using the property wastefully or
improperly alienating it.
Judicial trend towards women’s estate and Stridhan
The judicial view regarding women’s has also changed after the
enactment of the HSA as previously, in Bhugwandee Doobey v.
Myna Baee[xvii], the privy council held that a property that is
acquired by a woman from her husband is not her Stridhan and
on the death of that woman, such property will devolve upon the
heirs of her husband and not her heirs.
Also in Sheo Shankar v. Devi[xviii], the privy council held that

a property which obtained by a daughter from her mother will
be the Stridhan of the mother and not the Stridhan of daughter,
and on the death of her mother, such property will devolve upon
the heirs of the mother and not her heirs.
But after the commencement of the HSA, the judicial attitude

towards women’s estate and stridan has also changed as the
Supreme Court in the case of Gangamma v. G.
Nagarathnamma and Ors.[xix], has affirmed that the amplitude
of Section 14(1) is very large and it includes within its ambit
every kind of property that has been possessed by a Hindu
female on of the date of commencement of the HSA.
Further in Santosh v. Saarswathibai[xx], the ambit of Section

14(1) of HSA was expanded to include not only the land which
is in the possession of the Hindu female, but also the land over
which she has the right to possess.
To add to the rights of women, the Supreme Court in Cherotte

Sugathan v. Cherotte Bharathi[xxi], has held that on the death
of the husband, his share of ancestral property will devolve
upon his wife and will not be subjected to disinvestment, except
any statutory reason. It was also held that the mere remarriage
of the wife will not disentitle her from receiving her deceased
husband’s property.
Conclusion
The enactment of the Hindu Succession Act is a welcome step

in strengthening the property rights of Hindu women. Due to
this Act, the women are being provided those rights which have
been denied to them for centuries. It is indeed a colossus step
towards the protection of women’s right as it has removed a
woman’s disability to acquire and hold a property as its absolute
owner.
Earlier, a woman’s power to dispose of her property was also

limited as if the nature of the property is a Saudayika but her
right to dispose it off is like that of a Non-Saudayika, meaning
she cannot dispose it off without the consent of the
husband[xxii]. But all these limitations that were prescribed by
the archaic laws were removed by the enactment of the Hindu
Succession Act, 1956. The HSA has prescribed that a woman
will be absolute owner of her Stridhan (including both movable
and immovable property), regardless of whether it has been
obtained before or after the commencement of the Act and if she
dies intestate, then a uniform succession order shall be followed
in such case.
References:
[i] Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act No. XVIII OF 1937.
[ii] Suman Gupta, ‘Status of Women under Hindu Succession

Act’, AIR, vol. V, May, (New Delhi: 2007).
[iii] S. Venkataraman, ‘The Hindu Women’s Rights to Property

Act 1937’, The Madras Law Journal, vol. III, Sept, (Madras:
1937).
[iv] The Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Act 30 of 1956.

[v] Pratibha Rani V. Suraj Kumar, 1985 SCR (3) 191.
[vi] Id.
[vii] Dr. Paras Diwan, Family Law, Woman's Property, p.453
[viii] Janki v. Narayansami, (1916) 43 I.A. 207.
[ix] Chinnappa Govinda v. Vallaimmal, AIR 1969 Mad 187.
[x] Badri Prasad v. Kanso Devi, AIR 1970 SC 1963
[xi] Mahadeo v. Bansraji, AIR 1971 ALL 515
[xii] Lakshmichand v. Sukhdevi, AIR 1970 Raj 285
[xiii] Vinod Kumar Sethi v. State of Punjab, AIR 1982 P& H

372.
[xiv] Karmi v. Amru, AIR 1971 SC 745.
[xv] Dayabhaga XI, I, 56-57.
[xvi] Chilakamarti Kotaiah vs Addanki Venkata Subbaiah AIR

1919 PC 75
[xvii] Bhugwandee Doobey v. Myna Baee, (1867) 11 Moo. I.A.

487
[xviii] Sheo Shankar v. Devi, (1900) ILR 22 All 353
[xix] Gangamma v. G. Nagarathnamma and Ors., AIR 2008 SC

500
[xx] Santosh v. Saarswathibai, AIR 2009 SC 636
[xxi] Cherotte Sugathan v. Cherotte Bharathi, AIR 2008 SC

1467
[xxii] Can be accessed at

http://wealthymatters.com/2011/08/31/Stridhan/.
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Dr hemant thombare
Kindly email cases regarding division rights of self acquired property
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12/15/2020 Hindu Succession Act: Demystifying Stridhan and Women’s Estate By: Milind Rajratnam

Torrent Pharma ADVT

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Home / Articles Latest Laws

Indian Dispute Resolution

By : Milind Rajratnam O P Jindal Global University

Delhi High Court

The question of whether a particular property is the Stridhan or

Difference between Stridhan and Dowry

Although ‘Stridhan’ and ‘Dowry’ are entirely different, they are

The Supreme Court after observing the plight of an estranged

the husband will have no right or interest in the Stridhan

Women’s Estate and her rights over it

Yajnavalkya’s text has expanded the meaning of Stridhan to

The following are the two categories which are considered as

(i) Property obtained by inheritance – Under the Bombay

(ii) Share obtained on partition – On partition a female is

She cannot alienate the corpus in the ordinary manner, and

Sources of women’s estate

The following types of properties will constitute a women’s

(i) Proper received in lieu of Partition: Under Section 14 of

In Chinnappa Govinda v. Vallaimmal[ix], the father-in-law

(ii) Property given under an Award or Decree: The Supreme

(iii) Property under an agreement or compromise: The

(iv) Property received in inheritance: According to Section 14

(v) Property received in Gift: The Hindu Succession Act has

(vi) Property received under a will: In the case of Karmi v.

Women’s power over her estate

A woman has the following powers over her estate:

(i) Power of Management – The power of women over her

(ii) Power of Alienation – A woman has limited rights of

(iii) Surrender – Surrender means renunciation of estate by the

There are some preconditions that need to be fulfilled for a valid

After such surrender, the property will delve upon the

Judicial trend towards women’s estate and Stridhan

Also in Sheo Shankar v. Devi[xviii], the privy council held that

But after the commencement of the HSA, the judicial attitude

Further in Santosh v. Saarswathibai[xx], the ambit of Section

To add to the rights of women, the Supreme Court in Cherotte

The enactment of the Hindu Succession Act is a welcome step

Earlier, a woman’s power to dispose of her property was also

[i] Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act No. XVIII OF 1937.

[ii] Suman Gupta, ‘Status of Women under Hindu Succession

[iii] S. Venkataraman, ‘The Hindu Women’s Rights to Property

[iv] The Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Act 30 of 1956.

[v] Pratibha Rani V. Suraj Kumar, 1985 SCR (3) 191.

[vii] Dr. Paras Diwan, Family Law, Woman's Property, p.453

[viii] Janki v. Narayansami, (1916) 43 I.A. 207.

[ix] Chinnappa Govinda v. Vallaimmal, AIR 1969 Mad 187.

[x] Badri Prasad v. Kanso Devi, AIR 1970 SC 1963

[xi] Mahadeo v. Bansraji, AIR 1971 ALL 515

[xii] Lakshmichand v. Sukhdevi, AIR 1970 Raj 285

[xiii] Vinod Kumar Sethi v. State of Punjab, AIR 1982 P& H

[xiv] Karmi v. Amru, AIR 1971 SC 745.

[xv] Dayabhaga XI, I, 56-57.

[xvi] Chilakamarti Kotaiah vs Addanki Venkata Subbaiah AIR

[xvii] Bhugwandee Doobey v. Myna Baee, (1867) 11 Moo. I.A.

[xviii] Sheo Shankar v. Devi, (1900) ILR 22 All 353

[xix] Gangamma v. G. Nagarathnamma and Ors., AIR 2008 SC

[xx] Santosh v. Saarswathibai, AIR 2009 SC 636

[xxi] Cherotte Sugathan v. Cherotte Bharathi, AIR 2008 SC

[xxii] Can be accessed at

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