CWT v. Late R Sridharan & CWT v.

Rosa Maria Steinbicher Sridharan (1976) 4 SCC 489

R.Sridharan (H) Rosa Maria (Christian)

Nicolas Sundaram (H)
ISSUE
Whether a son born out of a wedding of a Hindu man and a Christian mother could be said to be a
Hindu for the purposes of forming a HUF with the father for tax purposes?
o Can a son of a Hindu father and mother married under the Special marriage act be considered as a
member of his father's joint family?
FACTS
o R.Sridharan, his father and his brothers constituted a joint family. Partition took place in the joint family
and he was allotted some joint family shares and some companies.
o Sridharan married a Christian woman- Rosa Maria under the SMA and a son Nicolas Sundaram was
born to them in 1957.
o Sridharan was taxed as an individual for the year 1957-58 and 1958-59. For AY 1959-60,
60-61 and 61-62, he claimed to be assessed in the status of a member of a HUF consisting of him and his son.
o He based his claim on the fact that after partition, the partition share is ancestral qua his male issues
and Nicolas Sunderam was a Hindu.
o The status was refused keeping in mind Section 21 of the SMA- succession has to be governed by ISA.

RATIO
• Legitimate children of a Hindu father by a Christian mother who are brought up as Hindus would be governed
by Hindu Law. Thus, son of a Hindu father and mother married under the Special marriage act will be a member
of his father's joint family

HOLDING
• The court held that "in the present case, Sridharan is a Hindu by birth and was lawfully married to Rosa Maria
Steinbchler. Even after his marriage, he did not renounce Hinduism but continued to profess that religion. Having
been begotten out of the aforesaid valid and lawful wedlock, Nicolas Sundaram is a legitimate child and lineal
descendant of Sridharan.
There is no material on the record to show that Nicolas Sundaram was not brought up as a Hindu or that he did
not conform to the habits and usages of Hinduism or that he was not recognised as a Hindu by the society
surrounding him or that he became a convert to another faith. Sridharan has also unequivocally acknowledged
and expressly declared that he and his son, Nicolas Sundaram formed a Hindu undivided family."

CRITIQUE
• The correctness of the decision is doubtful, as in a joint family the father and son constitute a coparcenary. In
the coparcenary, the son has a right by birth. As being Hindu is an essential qualification to be a member of the
joint family, the son of a Hindu father by a Christian mother need not be Hindu in all cases. His religion cannot be
determined at the time of his birth but is dependent on his being brought up as a Hindu. But the membership of a
son in the joint family is to be determined at the time of birth.