Impact of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 on Women’s Property Rights

Though the Rights of Women to Property and Maintenance Act sought to give women new rights, a number of years—in some cases, decades—of advocacy and litigation were necessary before many of these rights were granted. Women can now share in agricultural land, claim possession of agricultural land, seek compensation for unlawful dispossession from agricultural land, share in joint Hindu family property, gain control over property they acquired for their own benefit, have limited rights concerning the dwelling house, and stand as heirs in the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act. The Hindu Succession Amendment Act expanded the inheritance rights of Hindu women, other than some limited rights pronounced in a earlier act. This paper presents and discusses the theory and practice of the Hindu Succession Amendment Act by challenging some of the most common myths that persist in contemporary Indian society and by adding an empirical component to related policy debates. Looking at case studies in different states, it documents the status of Hindu women's rights under the Hindu Succession Amendment Act.