SC: Kids of 'invalid marriages' have right to property share

Children born out of invalid marriages can claim a right in their parents' ancestral property under the Hindu succession law, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

- Abraham Thomas

The top court, however, held that the children from such "void or voidable" marriages will not be able to inherit the ancestral properties of the coparceners other than their parents.

To be sure, the ruling only applies under specific conditions, and to specific marriages that should not have taken place in the first place according to the law. A bench headed by chief justice of India (CJI) Dhananjay Y Chandrachud passed the judgment while hearing a petition pertaining to legal questions on whether children, born out of annulled or invalid marriages, were entitled to a share in the ancestral property of their parents under Hindu laws.

The top court said that its verdict would be applicable only to Hindu joint family properties governed by the Hindu Mitakshara law, under which the son, grandson and great grandson have a right to the family property through birth.