Stridhan

Concept of stridhana and women property with latest cases

1. A Re-look on Stridhana - Dr. M. Madhuri Irene Asst . Professor ICFAI Law School, IFHE, Hyderabad [email protected]

2. Stridhana - Sanskrit term composed of two words Stri – Women , Dhana – Property A women property

3. Jurisprudential Exposition jus utendi – Right to use the Property jus fruendi – Right to enjoy the fruits or right to enjoy the property jus abutendi – Right to destruct or dispose or alienate the property

4. SOURCES OF STRIDHAN:  Gift received from relatives.  Gifts and bequests from strangers during maidenhood.  Property obtained in partition.  Property got in lieu of maintenance.  Property acquired by inheritance.  Property acquired through technical skill and art.  Property acquired by compromise.  Property acquired by adverse possession.  Property purchased with the earnings of the stridhana or with savings of income from stridhana .  Property acquired lawfully from sources other than those mentioned above.

5. Rights of Women over Stridhana Unmarried status - Any Hindu woman can dispose of the stridhana voluntarily. Married status: stridhana has been divided into saudayika (could be alienated freely by her) asaudayika stridhana . ( could be alienated by her with the consent of her husband only. This rule is subject to the condition that where husband and wife live together ). Where both have departed, asaudayika stridhana can be disposed of by the wife even without the consent of her husband During widowhood. - During widowhood the woman has an absolute and unrestricted right of property

6. Stridhana Under Codified Law The Hindu Women’s Right To Property Act, 1937 The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 etc . Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005,

7. The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 . Section 14 . Property of a female Hindu to be her absolute property .— 1)Any property possessed by a female Hindu, whether acquired before or after the commencement of this Act, shall be held by her as full owner thereof and not as a limited owner. Explanation .—In this sub-section, “property” includes both movable and immovable property acquired by a female Hindu by inheritance or devise, or at a partition, or in lieu of maintenance or arrears of maintenance, or by gift from any person, whether a relative or not, before, at or after her marriage, or by her own skill or exertion, or by purchase or by prescription, or in any other manner whatsoever , and also any such property held by her as stridhana immediately before the commencement of this Act . 2)Nothing contained in sub-section (1) shall apply to any property acquired by way of gift or under a will or any other instrument or under a decree or order of a civil court or under an award where the terms of the gift, will or other instrument or the decree, order or award prescribe a restricted estate in such property.

8. PROPERTY RECEIVED IN LIEU OF PARTITION Pachi Krishnamma v. Kumaran Krishnan AIR 1982 Ker 137 PROPERTY GIVEN UNDER AN AWARD OR DECREE PROPERTY UNDER AN AGREEMENT OR COMPROMISE PROPERTY RECEIVED IN INHERITANCE Badri Prasad vs Kanso Devi AIR 1970 SC 1963 PROPERTY RECEIVED IN GIFT Vinod Kumar sethi vs St. of Punjab AIR 1982 p&H 372 PROPERTY RECEIVED UNDER A WILL Karmi v. Amru AIR 1971 SC 745

9. Daughter’s right under HS (Amendment) Act,2005 6 (l). Devolution of interest in coparcenary property. (1) On and from the commencement of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, in a Joint Hindu family governed by the Mitakshara law, the daughter of a coparcener shall,-- (a) by birth become a coparcener in her own right the same manner as the son (b) have the same rights in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son; (c) be subject to the same liabilities in respect of the said coparcenary property as that of a son, and any reference to a Hindu Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to include a reference to a daughter of a coparcener: Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall affect or invalidate any disposition or alienation including any partition or testamentary disposition of property which had taken place before the 20th day of December, 2004. (2) Any property to which a female Hindu becomes entitled by virtue of subsection (1) shall be held by her with the incidents of coparcenary ownership and shall be regarded, notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force in, as property capable of being disposed of by her by testamentary disposition.

10. Pushpalatha N.V. Vs.V . Padma & others AIR2010Kant124, 2010(2)KCCR1249 Held married daughter is entitled to the share in the father’s coparcenary property . Bhanwar Singh v. Puran , (2008) 3 SCC 87, this Court followed Chander Sen's case and the various judgments following Chander Sen's case . For all purposes presumption as to Joint family can be taken but not Joint Property and married daughter has equal right along with son Uttam Vs. Saubhag Singh & Ors . [ Civil Appeal No. 2360 of 2016 arising out of SLP (Civil) No.6036 of 2014 Once partition held before 2005 married daughter is not entitled to the share in the father’s coparcenary property .

11. Female Hindu Intestate Succession Rules 15. General rules of succession in the case of female Hindus.— (1) The property of a female Hindu dying intestate shall devolve according to the rules set out in section 16,— (a) firstly, upon the sons and daughters (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) and the husband; (b) secondly, upon the heirs of the husband; (c) thirdly, upon the mother and father; (d) fourthly, upon the heirs of the father; and (e) lastly, upon the heirs of the mother. (2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1),— (a) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her father or mother shall devolve , in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the father; and (b) any property inherited by a female Hindu from her husband or from her father-in-law shall devolve, in the absence of any son or daughter of the deceased (including the children of any pre-deceased son or daughter) not upon the other heirs referred to in sub-section (1) in the order specified therein, but upon the heirs of the husband .

12. Judicial Dicta Pratibha Rani vs Suraj Kumar & Anr AIR 1985 SC.pg 628 Ashok Laxman Kale vs Ujwala Ashok Kale AIR 2007 NOC 1093 BOM Reema Aggarwal vs Anupam And Others 2004 Cr.LJ 892 Pooja Abhishek Goyal vs State Of Gujarat & Ors S.C on 25 April, 2014 Anant Prakash Sinha @ Anant Sinha vs State Of Haryana And Anr S.C on 4 March, 2016 Sabitha @ lias Bijuli sahoo vs Niranjan Sahoo . HC Orissa, 13 th January 2017 [Krishna Bhattacharjee v. Sarathi Choudhury, (2016) 2 SCC 705]

13. Women can claim stridhan even after separation from husband: Supreme Court A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Prafulla C Pant quashed the order of a trial court and Tripura High Court which had held that a woman cannot claim her stridhan after separation from her husband and criminal proceedings cannot be initiated against husband and in-laws for not handing over the properties . A woman can always seek her ' stridhan ' back from her husband and his family members even if the marriage has not been dissolved by a judicial decree of divorce. TIMES OF INDIA NOV 21 st 2016

14. How to Understand the concept of stridhana Is Stridhana an insignia of property created at the matrimonial ceremonies and agnatic functional relevance? Is Stridhana a representation of parental love and affection at the time of dislodging her nexus with the parental placenta? Is stridhana a mode of ensuring Gender justice? Is it a channel to women empowerment and equality of status? Is it an enforceable legal obligation of modern civilised and democratic societies and states?

15. Just like any other actor, Stridhana is also a protector and destroyer of woman’s life, independence, individuality and intellectuality - Let us think with sanity