Equal coparcenary rights under amended Hindu succession law extend to daughters, including eligibility to act as Karta.

Under the amended Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, a daughter becomes a coparcener by birth with the same rights and liabilities as a son in Mitakshara coparcenary property. The Delhi High Court held that, once this equal coparcenary status exists, there is no basis to exclude an eldest female coparcener from acting as Karta; the eldest coparcener may perform that role whether male or female. The Court further held that a daughter's coparcenary and succession rights are not taken away by marriage or by the prior death of her father, subject to the statutory saving for prior partitions and dispositions.

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Issues: (i) whether, after the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, a daughter who is a coparcener by birth can claim to be the Karta of a Mitakshara HUF; (ii) whether the amendment confers equal coparcenary and succession rights on a daughter notwithstanding her marriage and the earlier death of her .

Issue (i): whether, after the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, a daughter who is a coparcener by birth can claim to be the Karta of a Mitakshara HUF.

Analysis: The amended Section 6 declares that a daughter of a coparcener becomes a coparcener in her own right by birth and enjoys the same rights and liabilities in coparcenary property as a son. The earlier impediment to a female becoming Karta was the absence of coparcenary status. Once that statutory disqualification was removed, there was no basis to read a further restriction into the provision. The Court held that the eldest coparcener is entitled to act as Karta and that the statute does not exclude an eldest female coparcener from that position.

Conclusion: The daughter, being the eldest coparcener, is entitled to be Karta.

Issue (ii): whether the amendment confers equal coparcenary and succession rights on a daughter notwithstanding her marriage and the earlier death of her father.

Analysis: The amended law is a beneficial and equality-oriented enactment meant to remove gender discrimination in Mitakshara coparcenary property. The Court read Section 6 literally and held that the daughter's rights accrue as a coparcener by birth and are not taken away by marriage. The statutory change operates to place daughters on the same footing as sons in succession and coparcenary ownership, subject to the saving relating to prior partitions and dispositions.

Conclusion: The daughter's coparcenary rights are equal to those of a son and are not defeated by her marriage or by the prior death of her father.

Final Conclusion: The suit was decreed by recognising the plaintiff as the Karta of the HUF and by affirming her equal coparcenary status under the amended law.

Ratio Decidendi: Under the amended Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, a daughter of a coparcener becomes a coparcener by birth with equal rights and liabilities, and the eldest coparcener, whether male or female, may act as Karta unless the statute expressly provides otherwise.

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