For years women have been demanding equality in businesses, family decisions and inheritance of property. While this change is most certainly happening, with fathers naming their businesses after their daughters, the law definitely felt like a long way to go. This was not until the recent amendment by the Supreme Court of India.

It is Independence week and what came as a pleasant surprise yesterday was the judgement by the Supreme Court of India. This judgement entitles daughters to equal inheritance rights just as sons have, in the case of parental property.

This was done by passing an amendment to Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act which previously only catered to sons from properties of fathers, grandfathers and grandfathers.

The bench also clarified that whether the father was alive or not, daughters born before September 9, 2005, too could claim equal rights in inheritance.

This judgement applies to succession for daughters of Hindu Undivided Families and is not applicable to daughters of other religions.

Section 6 of the Act was amended to make a daughter of a coparcener also a coparcener by birth “in her own right in the same manner as the son”.

The law also gave the daughter the same rights and liabilities “in the coparcenary property as she would have had if she had been a son”.

“Daughters must be given equal rights as sons. The daughter remains a loving daughter throughout life. The daughter shall remain a coparcener throughout life, irrespective of whether her father is alive or not.” said Justice Arun Mishra, while delivering the verdict.

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