Summary
The Supreme Court rejected distant relatives’ claim to co-ownership of property left by an Indian Christian who died intestate. Her surviving sister was the preferential heir to the portion passing to kindred, notwithstanding the sister’s Pakistani nationality. The husband held three-fourths of the jointly purchased property after succession and the sister the remaining one-fourth. The defendants inherited no share through the deceased. The High Court decree was set aside and the first appellate decree for possession restored.
Issues
- Whether a surviving sister excluded more distant collateral relatives from intestate succession.
- Whether foreign nationality barred the sister from inheriting under the Indian Succession Act.
- Whether the defendants could resist possession by claiming an inherited share.
Provisions considered
- Sections 24–26, 47 and 48, Indian Succession Act, 1925The definitions of kindred and degrees of relationship informed the statutory priority. With the deceased’s sister surviving, the more distant collateral defendants could not invoke the residual nearest-kindred rule to inherit her share. (¶¶ 11, 12, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Held
- The deceased was an Indian Christian, so the Indian Succession Act governed the succession at issue. The Act did not disqualify her surviving sister from inheritance because she was a foreign national. (¶ 9)
- The husband already owned half the jointly purchased property and inherited half the deceased wife’s half-share, bringing his total to three-fourths. The Court did not accept the plaintiff’s claim that he alone owned the whole property. (¶¶ 10, 13, 14, 16)
- The remaining quarter passed to the deceased’s surviving sister under the applicable statutory priority. Distant collateral kindred could not inherit in competition with that nearer preferential heir. (¶¶ 17, 18, 19, 20)
- The defendants’ claim to an inherited quarter-share therefore failed. The High Court decree was set aside and the first appellate decree restored. (¶¶ 20, 21)
Result
Appeal allowed; High Court judgment and decree set aside and the First Appellate Court’s decree restored. No order as to costs.