The Conflict between Communal Religious Freedom and Women's Equality: A Proposal for Reform of the Hindu Succession Act of 1956

Abstract

The Hindu Succession Act of 1956, as part of a movement to codify the system of religious personal laws after India gained its independence in 1947, revolutionized the legal rules governing gender and inheritance. However, as a codification of ancient Hindu law and colonial amendments, the Act retained many limitations on women's rights regarding full ownership of ancestral and other property. Despite the drafters' intent to equalize the property and inheritance rights of Hindu women, a tension persists between the rights granted to women and the limitations preserved within the Act.This article investigates the provisions in the Act that enshrine gender discrimination in one of the most important legal aspects of personal law: inheritance. In particular, this article advocates for changes to the Hindu Succession Act that would equalize the position of men and women in relation to joint families and property rights. [Note: This paper was published prior to the 2005 amendments to the Hindu Succession Act, which removed many of the gender discriminatory provisions.]