B.A.LL.B.(Hons.

) Year-II, Semester-IV: Academic Year : 2020-2021

Second Open Book Assessment, April-2021

Course Code and Name: 4.3 Family Law-II

Name of Student: Sourabh Rajpurohit UID: UG19-106

Answer 2-

Family
Tree

Pushpa X

Sucheta Mangla Niranjan

Statutes invoked

Section 8, 14, 15 ,16 of Hindu Succession Act, 1956

Cases involved

 Lachman Singh vs. Kirpa Singh & Others 1987 SCR (2) 933
 M. Prakash and Ors. v. Radhacharan and Ors. (2009) 15 SCC.

As Mangla is a Hindu her property will be distributed as per Hindu Succession Act, 1956
s.15 (1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 talks about the order of preference in heirs in this
instant case as per of the act, the order will be- Husband of the propositus then the mother
and lastly heirs of husband. Similar contention was in the case of Lachman Singh vs. Kirpa
Singh & Others 1987 SCR (2) 933 in which the supreme court dealt with the issue of what
should be the preference in heirs and the court held that when once a property becomes the
absolute property of a female Hindu it shall devolve first on her children (including children
of the' predeceased son and daughter) as provided in section 15(1)(a) of the Act and then on
other heirs subject only to the limited change introduced in section 15(2) of the Act.
Distribution of property

 Rs 10 lakh in her salary account-

S.15 of the act states that if a woman dies intestate without children and sleaves her husband,
all of her assets, with the exception of those inherited from her mother and father, will be
entirely owned by her husband. This rule was highlighted by the Supreme Court in the case
of M. Prakash and Ors. v. Radhacharan and Ors. (2009) 15 SCC.

So,10 lakh rupees in her salary account will be inherited by her husband.
 5 acres of agricultural land inherited from her father
According to Section 15(2) (a) of the act, any property inherited by a female Hindu from her
father or mother shall devolve upon the heirs of her father in the absence of any son or
daughter (including the children of a predeceased son or daughter) of that deceased female.
As, in this instant case, heirs of father of Mangla will inherit the 5 acres of agricultural land.
S.16 ,Rule-3 of the act- the devolution of property of intestate on the heirs of father shall be
in the same order and by application of same rules which would have applied if that property
had been father’s.
S.8 of the act - mother and sisters of Mangla are class I heirs of her father. So, the 5 acres of
land will be inherited by both of them,.

Mother and sister of Mangla will have their respective shares will be 2.5 acres of
agricultural land as per the provision of section 10.

 Jewellery worth 20 lakhs given by her mother-in-law.

As per S.15 (2) (b), in the absence of any offspring or child of a predeceased son or daughter,
any property inherited by a deceased female intestate who died without issue from her
husband or father-in-law is inherited by the heirs of the husband.
Hence, the jewellery will be given to her husband.
 2 BHK flat worth 60 lakhs, jointly owned by father.
S. 14 of the act converts limited ownership of female in a property to absolute ownership.
This section states that on the demise of female Hindu , any property in her possession in
which she is limited owner shall become absolute owner of that property.
So, the 2 BHK flat will be Mangala’s absolute property and as per s.15 of the act, if a female
intestate died without issue, leaving her husband then the all the properties which she owned
expect those properties which were inherited by her mother and father , will wholly be
owned by her husband. Hence, the flat shall be acquired by her husband Niranjan.

Answer 5(a).

According to the question

B2=Y1 B1 JC<>W1

D2 S1= S2

Of which jc b2 y1 are dead

Lets assume the total property to be x

Section 24 of the Indian succession act will come into the picture as it talks about kindred as
the connection or relation of persons descended from the same stock or common ancestor.

From the above it is clear that there is no lineal descendant of John, he was survived only by
his widow and the persons who are kindred to him. So, here S. 33 (b) of the Indian
Succession Act, 1925 will be applicable in determining the share of his widow in the
property. This section states that in a situation where the intestate has no lineal descendants
but was survived by persons kindred to him and his wife then, one half of the property will
belong to widow only and other half shall go to those who are kindred to him.

So, W1 will get ½ of the property which is x/2

Now if we look at the S. 44 of the act and as per the findings of the Calcutta high court in the
matter of P.G. Hill vs Administrator-General Of Bengal((1896) ILR 23 Cal 506), which
says that mother, brother, sister, and children of any deceased brother and sister will get the
equal shares in the property. And if the deceased brother and sister have more than one
children then they will take the shares that their respective parents would have taken.

So, in this case of John Charles, the rest ½ of the property will be apportioned among Mother
(M), predeceased Sister (Y){represented by her Sons) , Brother (B1) and predeceased brother
(B2) {represented by his daughter).which means that the leftover property x/2 will be divided
amongst the other members equally or x/8 property will stay with the other members of the
family.

Answer 5(b)

According to the question

H<=>Nancy

W1<=>S1 D2 S2<=> W2

S2=S4 S5=D2

Lets assume the total property to be X

Nancy Alberto, a Christian female died intestate leaving behind her property which is now
disputed amongst her family
From above it is clear that Nancy Alberto was survived by her husband and her lineal
descendants as per the explanation given in s.25 of the act with respect to lineal
consanguinity, there are heirs of Nancy in direct line of ascend and descend.

So, here s.33(a) of the act will be applicable which says that if the intestate was survived by
his widow and any lineal descendent, then 1/3rd of the property will be allotted to her. And by
the virtue of s.35 of the act the word widow also includes widower there x/3 will belong to
her husband

Here it is to be noted that W1 and W2 will not get any property. Because it is stated in the
S.20 of the act which states that no rights in property are reserved for relations brought in
family by marriage.

So, now for distribution of remaining 2/3rd property s.40 of the act will be used, which states
in its clause (b) that one of such shares shall be allotted to each of lineal descendants who
stood in the nearest degree of kindred to the intestate.

Here, in the case of Nancy, her father (F) , Children(S 1, S2 and D1) are in the same and nearest
degree of kindred to her. So, the remaining 2/3 rd of the property will be divided in four parts
and one part will be allotted to each.

So, 2/3 divided by four will be 2/12 or each of the remaining four will get an property of x/6
of the disputed property

Answer 6.
Disintegration basically means the breakdown of something into smaller particles or into
smaller units. Different religions follows different customary practices, rules and regulations.
Thus, there is no uniform civil code in India. This non- uniformity of rules and laws even
apply to the property laws which means that every religion has different laws of succession
ad inheritance.
So, if we talk about Islamic law of inheritance, it consists of two schools namely, Hanafi
(Sunni) and Shia, and it is a combination of pre-Islamic customs and rules which were
introduced by the Prophet.
General principles of Sunni law of inheritance for a male Muslim.
a.) Heritable Property Heritable property is that property which is available to the legal heirs
for inheritance. After the death of a Muslim man, his properties are utilised for the paying the
expenses, debts and the wills. After all the payment, the remaining property is recognised as
heritable property.
b.) No-Birth Right- In Muslim law, inheritance begins only after the ancestor's death. No, a
person might be a living person's heir, but the heirs have no interest in the property during his
lifetime.
c.) The doctrine of representation is not recognised by Sunni law. Let's take a look at an
example. A died intestate, leaving behind his son (X) and a son who had already passed away
(Y). Y also had a brother (Z). Now, when it comes time to divide the land, Z will be unable to
claim his father Y's planned share.
e.) If a child is born alive and still in the mother's womb, he or she is competent to inherit
intestate land.
Part-B
In the given case

F<=>M

W2<=>X<=>W1

Sujata<=>S1(Converted) S2=D1=D2

DS

––
Total property of Mr.X = (10 acres agriculture land in Nazafgarh+ Rs.25/- lakhs in the Bank
Account + Ornaments in the Bank Locker worth Rs.50/- lakhs+ One plot of 3,000 sq.yds. in
Rajendra Nagar+ One house in Janakpuri worth Rs.75/- lakhs.)

Or
Total property = (10 acres * 5 lakhs + 25 lakhs +50 lakhs +55 lakhs + 75 lakhs) or 255 lakhs
Now according to the Law of Inheritance in Sunni law, shares are distributed among: Father,
True Grandfather, Husband, Wife, Mother, True Grandmother, Daughter, Son’s daughter,
Uterine brother or sister, full sister, consanguine sister respectively.
Inheritance refers to the property or actionable claim left behind by a deceased person. It is
inherited by relatives of a deceased person in the estate, i.e., the property or actionable claim
left behind by him, without the permission or preference of the deceased. When an individual
dies, his or her property is automatically transferred to the deceased's family. This is referred
to as inheritance. Nonetheless, there must be a strong belief that the deceased is no longer
alive, as well as a strong belief in the life of the claimant-heirs and knowledge of inheritance
issues. such as who will inherit or be the heir and on what grounds. Since he died interstate,
the Father of X will get 1/6th share, when there is child or a child of a son. Mother will get
1/6th as child of a son is present. Wives (W1 and W2) will inherit 1/8th share in common as
their children are present. Furthermore, the 1/8th share will be divided into 2(W1 and W2)
respectively. Therefore, each wife will get: 1/8*1/2 = 1/16th share of the property.

Son S1 cannot inherit the property under Sunni law as he has contracted marriage under
Special Marriage Act.
So, now the remaining property which is 1-(1/6+1/6+1/8)=13/24
Now this remaining property will be inherited by S2, D1 and D2 as such that S2 will get double
share than both the daughters. So, the property will be be divided in four
parts(13/24/4=13/96) and from that 2 part will go to S2 (2 x13/96=13/48) and 1 part to
D1(13/96) and D2 (13/96).
DS, son of deceased daughter will not inherit anything from the property of X.
Final share of disputed property

Member Eligible personal share

F Yes 255/6 = 42.5 lakh
W1 Yes 255/16= 15.9375 lakh
W2 Yes 255/16= 15.9375 lakh
M Yes 255/6 =42.5 lakh
S2 Yes (255*13)/48= 69.0625 lakh
S1 Nil -
 D1 Yes (255*13)/96 = 34.53125
lakh
DS Nil -
Total = 255 lakh

Answer 3.

FAMILY
TREE

A W1

D2(Not
W2 = S1 S2 = W3 S3 = Z D1=Y
Married)

S2 was found guilty of murder of his father-A and is undergoing life imprisonment in
Yerwada jail, Pune. S3 married Ms. Z, a Christian Female, 26-year of age on August 4, 2014
under the provisions of the Special Marriage Act 1954. D 2 remain unmarried while living
with their parents.
Two types or property are there in given question:-
1) Self-acquired property
2) Joint property
Mr. A has coparcenary rights in shared property and family properties. And, under Section 6
of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, if a Hindu dies after the act's creation and is survived by
any female relative of Class-I (in A's case, his daughters and wife are class-I female heirs),
the Mitakashara coparcenary property moves by testamentary or intestate succession rather
than by survivorship. As a consequence, his portion of the family estate should be calculated
first.
Now, this family owned property will devolve by doctrine of notional partition, which
explained in s.6 , explanation-1 of the act. This explanation says that “the interest of a Hindu
Mitakshara coparcener shall be deemed to be the share in the property that would have been
allotted to him if a partition of the property had taken place immediately before his death,
irrespective of whether he was entitled to claim partition or not.”
So, the family owned property will be distributed by per stripes among A and his children .
Legitimate claimants of joint property.
A, as he karta of the family , His sons, S1 and S2 (S3 will be disqualified as he married
under special marriage act) and daughters D1 and D2. It is to be noted to that wife of A and
his sons cannot inherit joint property of family as they have no coparcenary rights. S2 will
not be disqualified for murdering A, as it is presumed for notional partition that intestate is
alive.
So, the joint property will be divided equally among above mentioned 5 claimants. So, A’s
share will be 1/5 th of the joint property.
The value of family owned property is – i) 50 acres of land as Rs. 3lakh per acre=1.5 crore
(ii) 30 lakhs in bank account (iii) ornaments worth 1.5 crore (iv) a plot worth 2 crore, a family
house worth 7 crore and a rented house worth 5 crore.
So, the total value will be 17.3 crores +R (rent accrued on rented property till now).
So, A’s and above mentioned other claimants share will be (17.3 +R)cr./5.
As per given facts A also had some self- acquired properties amounting to 2.8 crore.
Now A’s share in family owned properties and his self-acquired properties will be divided
amongst his heirs.
Legitimate claimants- S1 ,S3, D1, D2 ,W1( wife Of A). It is to be noted that S2 will be
disqualified as a claimant as he has murdered by the virtue of S.25 of the act. Not only S2 but
his whole branch will be disqualified which means that his son S5 and wife will also not get
anything from the property.
As per s.8 of the act above mentioned five claimants are Class-I heirs and the property of A
shall firstly be bestowed upon them. And as per s.9 of the act all the Class-I heirs will take
simultaneously.So, by applying Rule-1 and Rule-2 of S.10 of the act all the property of A will
be divided equally among S1 ,S3, D1, D2 ,W1.
So, their respective share will be {(17.3+R) cr./5 +2.8 cr}/5