The Hon’ble High Court of Delhi, in its milestone decision articulated in the matter of Mrs Sujata Sharma v Shri Manu Gupta and Ors [CS (OS) 2011/2006], has held that the eldest woman member from a Mitakshara Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) can be its “Karta/Manager”. The decision went ahead a suit documented by the oldest eldest daughter of a HUF in North Delhi.
This decision is vital as it takes the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 which revised Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA) to its obvious end result.
Preceding Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, as indicated by Section 6 of the HSA, in a HUF, the offer in the coparcenary property of a Hindu male kicking the bucket intestate used to degenerate upon his children (otherwise called coparceners) just and not upon his eldest daughters. On 9 September 2005, Section 6 of the HSA was altered by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 which eliminated this separation by giving equivalent rights to eldest daughters in the Hindu Mitakshara coparcenary property as that to a child. As per the said revision, a girl of a coparcener (i.e., her dad) will, by birth, (I) become a coparcener in a similar way as a child, (ii) be qualified for the coparcenary property in a similar way as a child, (iii) be dependent upon similar liabilities in regard of the coparcenary property as that of a child, and (iv) be mindful to release the obligations of her dad, granddad or extraordinary granddad shrunk by them after the beginning of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, in a similar way as a child.
The revision doesn’t have a review impact, and if a coparcenary property has been divided or discarded before 20 December 2004, the above alteration will not influence such property, and an eldest daughter can’t guarantee any directly over such property.
The issue which was to be chosen for this situation was whether the offended party, being the originally conceived among the current coparceners of the HUF, would by righteousness of her introduction to the world, be qualified for be its Karta.
The HUF being referred to is known as D. R. Gupta and Sons, HUF, whose Karta was Mr D.R. Gupta. He had 5 (five) children in particular (I) Mr Kishan Mohan Gupta, (ii) Mr Mohinder Nath Gupta, (iii) Mr Jatinder Nath Gupta, (iv) Mr Ravinder Nath Gupta, and (v) Mr Bhupinder Nath Gupta. Mr Kishan Mohan Gupta was the eldest child.
D R Gupta and Sons, HUF, hung on a drawn out rent a home arranged in Delhi and some mobile properties and offers. Mr D R Gupta kicked the bucket on 1 October 1971 giving up him the previously mentioned 5 (five) children along with their individual families. Mr Kishan Mohan Gupta being the oldest child, turned into the Karta of the HUF. The offended party is the oldest little girl of Mr Kishan Mohan Gupta. As time passed, all the aforementioned 5 (five) children additionally kicked the bucket and the first respondent, being the child of one of the more youthful sibling of Mr Kishan Mohan Gupta pronounced himself as the Karta of the HUF by temperance of being the oldest living male individual from the said HUF.
Such case of the first litigant as Karta of the HUF was tested by the offended party on the ground that after the passing of her dad and her uncles, she is the senior most part/coparcener of the HUF and consequently she is qualified for be the Karta of the HUF. In view that the offended party is the oldest individual from the HUF, her being a lady can’t be viewed as an exclusion from being its Karta since this preclusion has been taken out by the change achieved under Section 6 of HSA in the year 2005. Further, it has been likewise held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India in Tribhovan Das Haribhai Tamboli v Gujarat Revenue Tribunal and Ors. (AIR 1991 SC 1538) that a Karta of a HUF would consistently be the senior most individual from the HUF.
The offended party additionally battled that by righteousness of the new arrangement, a girl of a coparcener in a HUF presently turns into a coparcener in her own privilege and in this manner appreciates rights equivalent to those until now delighted in by a child of a coparcener. The ramifications of this principal change are wide. In view that, a girl currently remains on an equivalent balance with a child of a coparcener, she is presently contributed with all the privileges of a coparcener, including the option to go about as a Karta of the HUF.
The first litigant had a problem with such a case of the offended party and fought that the change to Section 6 of HSA in particular allowed equivalent rights to a little girl to be viewed as a coparcener equivalent to those to a male part, however it didn’t stretch out to conceding a girl a privilege in the administration of HUF property. The first respondent likewise fought that in view that the offended party has been hitched, she can’t be viewed as a vital piece of the HUF.
The Hon’ble High Court of Delhi saw that it is fairly an odd suggestion that while ladies would have equivalent privileges of legacy in a HUF property, this privilege could in any case be shortened or shackled with regards to the administration of the equivalent. The away from of Section 6 of HSA doesn’t specify any such limitation nor did the offended party’s marriage modify the option to acquire the coparcenary property to which she prevailing after her dad’s destruction. In this way, the accommodation in the interest of litigant is unsound.
The Hon’ble High Court of Delhi further held that the obstacle which forestalled a lady individual from a HUF from turning into its Karta was that she didn’t have the vital capability of coparcenership. Since this preclusion has been eliminated by the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, there is no motivation behind why Hindu ladies ought to be kept the situation from getting a Karta. On the off chance that a male individual from a HUF, by ideals of his being the initially brought into the world oldest, can be a Karta, so can a female member.