Can a married daughter be denied inheritance rights? Here's what Himachal Pradesh HC ruled

The judgment highlights the distinction between applying for a fresh government land grant and inheriting rights arising from an existing grant.

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ruled that a woman cannot be denied her claim to government-allotted family land merely because she is married.

The court held that the Himachal Pradesh Nautor Land Rules, 1968, do not expressly disqualify a married daughter from succeeding to land granted to her parents. It also ruled that an administrative clarification cannot impose a restriction that is not contained in the statutory rules.

The judgment, delivered on September 14, involved a woman’s claim to 3 bigha and 2 biswas of agricultural land in Shimla that had originally been granted to her father in 1972.

Dispute arose over land granted to woman's father

The Himachal Pradesh government had granted the agricultural land to Mina Ram under the Nautor Land Rules, 1968, on August 25, 1972. While possession of the land was handed over, the patta, or official document recording the grant, was not executed by the revenue authorities.

After Mina Ram died in 1990, his wife Sewati Devi approached the authorities seeking the patta. However, the document remained unsigned.