Property received by Hindu widow in partition or maintenance is her absolute right: HC

Abstract

MUMBAI: In a significant ruling that reinforces the property rights of Hindu women, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has held that any property received by a Hindu widow either in partition or in lieu of maintenance becomes her absolute property, and not a limited estate. Justice Rohit W Joshi, delivering the judgement, emphasised that 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, but a tangible right against property.” The ruling came in connection with a decades-old property dispute involving the Bhamburkar family of Nagpur. According to case details, one Balaji Bhamburkar purchased properties in 1928 and built a house in 1931. After his death in 1932, his estate was divided among his three sons, Harihar, Keshao and Krushna, and his widow, Laxmibai, through a deed executed on October 26, 1953. Under this deed, the disputed house was allotted to Laxmibai. [Read More]