ORDER :

1. Delay condoned.

2. Leave granted.

3. The original plaintiff/her legal heir (substituted plaintiff) who has not succeeded in all the three courts below is in appeal before this Court upon grant of special leave under Article 136 of the Constitution of India.

4. The original plaintiff – Gunamma was a subject of 'Sangli State' which merged in the Union of India in the year 1948. There was a Sangli Widow's Right to Property Act of 1935 (Act No.1 of 1935) [hereinafter referred to as “the Sangli Act”] which governed, inter alia, the right of a widow to ask for partition. Under Section 1(E) of the Sangli Act, Hindu women who had become widows prior to the passing of the Sangli Act in the year 1935 were also entitled to claim the benefits of the provisions of the Sangli Act. The following extract of the relevant parts of the Sangli Act would be required to be made at the very outset for a proper appreciation of the issues arising in the present case.

“An Act regarding the right of a widow to get a share by inheritance of partition from males.

Object. Whereas it is expedient to remove doubts and disparities existing in the Hindu Shastras, in respect of the females in the property which