A Hindu woman not only becomes the absolute owner of a property that devolves to her, but would also have an inalienable right over the property “which she has a right to possess,”  the Supreme Court has held.

Interpreting legal provisions aimed at providing equal property rights to women, the apex court said a Hindu woman’s right to maintenance is not an empty formality or an illusory claim being conceded as a matter of grace and generosity, a bench of Justices S B Sinha and H S Bedi said.

The apex court passed the ruling while dismissing the appeal of a family which had challenged the grant of full ownership rights to the family of the deceased woman Sundrabai by courts in Karnataka.

It was argued by the appellant Santosh and others that the heirs of Sundrabai were not entitled to the disputed property measuring 6.5 acres on the ground that it was given for her maintenance during her lifetime.

The appellants claimed that a consent deed was signed by Sundrabai in 1964 which was decreed by a court.

According to the consent deed signed by Sundrabai with her husband’s second wife Kashibai, she would retain the property during her lifetime and the same would subsequently go back to the heirs of the the second wife.
Sundrabai was one of the two wives of Trimukhrao, whose property was under disputed ownership with the heirs of his second wife.