Supreme Court Reaffirms Daughters’ Equal Inheritance Rights Under Hindu Succession Act
The recent judgment of the Supreme Court of India in B.S. Lalitha & Ors. v. Bhuvanesh & Ors. marks a significant reaffirmation of daughters’ inheritance rights under the Hindu Succession Act. The Court emphatically held that a plaint cannot be rejected at the threshold merely by invoking Section 6(5) of the Hindu Succession Act, especially when disputed questions regarding partition, succession, and validity of family arrangements require full adjudication at trial. The judgment further clarifies that daughters possess an independent right as Class I heirs under Section 8 of the Act where the father dies intestate, and such rights cannot be defeated by subsequent partition deeds executed without their consent. Importantly, the Court also reinforced the doctrine of res judicata, holding that litigants cannot repeatedly reopen identical issues through successive applications under Order VII Rule 11 CPC. This ruling strengthens procedural fairness while protecting substantive inheritance rights of daughters in family property disputes.