Hindu Woman Can Claim Absolute Ownership of Property Tied to Maintenance Rights : Supreme Court
In Kallakuri Pattabhiramaswamy (Dead) Through LRs v. Kallakuri Kamaraju & Ors., the Supreme Court held that a Hindu woman can claim absolute ownership of property under Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 (HSA), only if the property was acquired in lieu of her antecedent maintenance right. A bench comprising Justices CT Ravikumar and Sanjay Karol clarified that possession transforms into full ownership when the property is held for maintenance. However, property acquired through a written instrument or court decree without any link to antecedent rights falls under Section 14(2), disqualifying absolute ownership.
The court stated, “The right to receive maintenance is sufficient title for possession to ripen into full ownership if the property is held in lieu of maintenance.” Drawing from precedents such as Gulwant Kaur v. Mohinder Singh (1987) and Jaswant Kaur v. Harpal Singh (1989), the court emphasized that Section 14(2) serves as an exception to Section 14(1), applying only to acquisitions unconnected to maintenance rights.
In this case, the court ruled that since the woman’s rights under a partition deed were limited and not granted in lieu of maintenance, she could not claim absolute ownership of the property.