Case Note & Summary
The case involves an appeal from an order in a suit filed by the respondent/plaintiff, Nazneen Khalid Qureshi, against her brother, the appellant/defendant, Balchand Jairamdas Lalwant, and others. The respondent sought an injunction restraining the appellant from creating third-party rights over a residential flat in Matunga, Mumbai, which she claimed was part of her deceased father's estate. The appellant contended that the respondent, having converted to Islam in 1979, lost her right to inherit the property under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. The trial court allowed the respondent's notice of motion, restraining the appellant from alienating the flat. The appellant appealed, arguing that the suit was not maintainable because the respondent, as a Muslim convert, could not claim any proprietary right in her Hindu father's property. The High Court framed the issue of whether a Hindu converted to Islam is disqualified from inheriting a father's intestate property. The appellant's counsel argued that Section 2(1)(c) of the Hindu Succession Act excludes Muslims from its application, and thus the respondent could not inherit. The respondent's counsel countered that the Act applies to children of a Hindu father regardless of their religion, and conversion does not affect inheritance rights. The Court analyzed Section 2(1) of the Act, noting that it applies to Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Sikhs, and excludes Muslims, Christians, Parsis, and Jews. However, the Court held that the exclusion applies to persons who are Muslim by religion at the time of succession, not to those who were born Hindu and later converted. The respondent, being a daughter of a Hindu father, is a Class I heir under Section 8 and is entitled to inherit. The Court dismissed the appeal, upholding the trial court's order.
Headnote
A) Hindu Succession Act - Applicability - Conversion - Section 2(1)(c) - The question was whether a Hindu daughter who converted to Islam is disqualified from inheriting her Hindu father's intestate property. The Court held that the exclusion under Section 2(1)(c) applies only to persons who are Muslim by religion at the time of succession, not to those who were born Hindu and later converted. The daughter, being a child of a Hindu father, is entitled to inherit under the Act. (Paras 1-18) B) Hindu Succession Act - Intestate Succession - Daughter's Right - Section 8 - The Court held that a daughter, regardless of her conversion, is a Class I heir under Section 8 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and is entitled to a share in the father's property. The father died intestate, and the daughter's right to inherit is not extinguished by her conversion to another religion. (Paras 10-18)
Issue of Consideration
Whether a Hindu converted into Islam is disqualified to receive a property of a father, who died intestate?
Final Decision
Appeal dismissed. The order of the trial court restraining the appellant from creating third party rights in the suit flat is upheld.
Law Points
- Conversion to Islam does not disqualify a person from inheriting property of a Hindu father who died intestate
- Hindu Succession Act
- 1956 applies to children of Hindu father regardless of child's religion
- Section 2(1)(c) exclusion applies only to persons who are Muslim by religion at time of succession
- not to converts who were born Hindu
