The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the government to respond to a plea for uniform laws of succession and inheritance applicable across religious faiths.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A. Bobde issued notice on a petition filed by advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, who submitted that uniform gender and religion-neutral laws in succession and inheritance were necessary to secure justice, equality and dignity of women.
“Even after 73 years of Independence and 70 years of becoming Sovereign Socialist Secular Democratic Republic, the Centre has failed to provide gender-neutral and religion-neutral uniform grounds of succession and inheritance,” the petition said.
The petition said the existing personal laws governing succession and inheritance were “complex and cumbersome.”
It said Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains were governed by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and Christians, Parsis and Jews by the Indian Succession Act, 1925.
“Similarly, Muslims are governed by the Shariat Act, in which the share of a female heir is half of the male heirs. Moreover, existing personal laws relating to succession and inheritance are not only against the constitutional ethos of gender justice, gender equality and dignity of women but also brazenly offend Articles 14, 15, 21 of the Constitution and international conventions,” the plea said.
