Legal Reference Library

HIGHLIGHTS • Delhi HC in its landmark verdict said that the eldest female member of a family can be its “Karta". • The ruling came on a suit filed by the eldest daughter of a business family in north Delhi. • The HC ruling is important because it takes the 2005 reform in the Hindu Succession Act to its logical conclusion. The Karta occupies a position superior to that of other members and has full authority to manage property, rituals or other crucial affairs of the family. (Photo courtesy: Getty images)The Karta occupies a position superior to that of other members and has full authority to manage property, rit... Read More NEW DELHI: The eldest female member of a family can be its "Karta", the Delhi high court has ruled in a landmark verdict. A unique position carved out by Hindu customs and ancient texts, "Karta" denotes managership of a joint family and is traditionally inherited by men. "If a male member of a Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), by vi...

The Supreme Court has ruled that a widow can be a manager of a joint family in some particular circumstances. An apex court bench gave the ruling while deciding a property dispute between cousins of a family in Uttar Pradesh in a suit filed in 1978 in favour of the mother who bought the property. A bench comprising justices Ranjan Gogoi and N V Ramana said, “Such a role (as manager) necessarily has to be distinguished from that of a Karta which position the Hindu widow cannot assume by virtue of her disentitlement to be a coparcener in the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) of her husband. Regrettably the position remains unaltered even after the amendment of the Hindu Succession Act in 2005.” “Though women could not be treated as Karta of a joint family, she can be a manager of a joint family, in some particular circumstances,” it said. The bench also held that the expression ‘Manager’ can be understood as denoting a role distinct from that of the Karta. The case dates back to 1978, whe...