Coparcenary rights for daughters apply to pending partitions until final decree and metes-and-bounds division

Section 29-A was held to confer daughters the same coparcenary rights as sons, and the beneficial amendment had to be applied to pending partition proceedings. A preliminary decree only declared shares and did not complete partition, because the shares could still change until a final decree was passed and the property was divided by metes and bounds. Clause (iv) excluded only partitions already effected before commencement of the amendment, meaning a completed and irreversible partition, not a mere severance of status or declaration of shares. As the final decree had not been passed, the unmarried daughters were entitled to their share in the joint Hindu family property.

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Issues: Whether unmarried daughters were entitled to a share in joint Hindu family property under Section 29-A where only a preliminary decree had been passed before the amendment and the final decree had not yet been made.

Analysis: Section 29-A conferred on a daughter of a coparcener the same coparcenary rights as a son and required partition to allot her the same share as a son. The amendment was beneficial in character and had to be applied liberally. A preliminary decree only declared shares and did not complete the partition, because the shares remained liable to variation until a final decree was passed and the property was divided by metes and bounds. Clause (iv) excluded only partitions already effected before commencement of the amendment, and that expression referred to a completed and irreversible partition, not merely severance of status or declaration of shares. Since the final decree had not been passed, the amendment operated on the pending partition proceedings.

Conclusion: The daughters were entitled to their share in the family property, and the exclusion in Clause (iv) did not apply.

Ratio Decidendi: In partition proceedings, a preliminary decree does not amount to an effected partition for the purpose of excluding the operation of a beneficial amendment conferring coparcenary rights on daughters; the amendment applies until partition is completed by metes and bounds.

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