Hindu Succession Act, 1956 – Section Summary
| Section | Rule | Key Concept | Case Law |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Application of Act | Applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs | Yagnapurushdasji v Muldas Bhudardas Vaishya |
| 4 | Overriding effect | This Act overrides (has more power than) old Hindu laws | Eramma v Veerupana |
| 6 | Devolution of coparcenary property | Daughter has equal right as son in joint family property | Vineeta Sharma v Rakesh Sharma Prakash v Phulavati Danamma v Amar |
| 8 | General rules of succession (male) | Property of male goes to Class I heirs first | Gurupad v Hirabai |
| 9 | Order of succession | Class I heirs get priority over others | State of Maharashtra v Narayan Rao Sham Rao Deshmukh |
| 10 | Distribution among Class I heirs | Property divided equally among Class I heirs | Gurupad v Hirabai |
| 14 | Property of female Hindu | Female becomes full owner of her property | V. Tulasamma v Sesha Reddy Eramma v Veerupana |
| 15 | Succession of female Hindu | Property of female goes to her heirs in order | Bhagat Ram v Teja Singh |
| 16 | Order of succession (female) | Explains how female property is divided | Omprakash v Radhacharan |
| 19 | Mode of succession | Heirs take property as tenants-in-common (separate shares) | CIT v Seth Govindram Sugar Mills |
| 21 | Presumption in simultaneous deaths | If unsure who died first, elder is assumed to die first | Gian Kaur v State of Punjab |
| 23 | Dwelling house (now omitted) | Earlier limited rights of daughters in house (now removed) | Githa Hariharan v RBI |
| 24 | Disqualification of certain widows (omitted) | Earlier some widows could not inherit (now removed) | Savita Samvedi v Union of India |
| 25 | Murder disqualification | A person who kills cannot inherit property | Nanak Chand v Chandra Kishore Aggarwal |
| 26 | Convert’s descendants disqualified | Children of converted persons may lose rights in some cases | Perumal Nadar v Ponnuswami |
| 27 | Succession when heir disqualified | Property passes as if disqualified person is dead | K. Venkatachalam v K. Swamickan |
| 28 | No disqualification except provided | No one is disqualified unless law clearly says | B. Prabhakar Rao v State of A.P. |
| 29 | Failure of heirs | If no heirs, property goes to government | State of Punjab v Balwant Singh |
| 30 | Testamentary succession | Hindu can dispose property by will | Gurdev Kaur v Kaki |