Children from void, voidable marriages can claim rights in parents’ property: SC

New Delhi [India]: The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that children born out of “void or voidable” marriages can claim a right in their parents’ ancestral property under the Hindu Succession Act (HSA).

A Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra held that a child under Section 16(1) and Section 16(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA) would be a legitimate kin under the HSA.

According to Hindu law, void or invalid marriage is not enforceable in law or is unlawful. In a void marriage, no decree of nullity is required to annul the marriage. A voidable marriage has to be annulled through a decree.

The verdict of apex court’s verdict came on a plea relating to the legal issue of whether non-marital children were entitled to a share in the ancestral property of their parents under Hindu laws.

The detailed verdict is yet to be uploaded on the Supreme Court’s website.

The case was referred to a larger bench in 2011 after a division bench of the apex court refused to follow past precedents and championed the cause of children born out of illegitimate marriages.

The division bench had held that such children would have a right to any property that belonged to their parents, whether they were self-acquired or ancestral. It had, however, clarified that the children’s claims would be limited to the property of their parents and no other relation.

The top court decided the issue of whether the share of such children is limited only to the self-acquired property of their parents under Section 16(3) of the Hindu Marriage Act.