IMPORTANT POINTS
(1) Hindu female’s right to maintenance is not an empty formality or an illusory claim being conceded as a matter of grace and generosity, but is a tangible right against property which flows from spiritual relationship between husband and wife.
(2) Possession of widow must be under some vestige of a claim, right or title, because Section 14 of Hindu Succession Act, 1956 does not contemplate possession of any trespasser without any right or title.

ORDER :

1. Interpreting Section 14 of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956¹[Hereinafter the ‘Act’.], in V. Tulasamma & Ors. v. Sesha Reddy (Dead) by LRs. (1977) 3 SCC 99”, Justice Bhagwati observed that this is a classic instance of a statutory provision which, by reason of its inapt draftsmanship, has created endless confusion for litigants and has proved to be a paradise for lawyers. Raising concern about the legislative indifference and interpretative difficulties presented by sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 14, leading to judicial divergence, which might as well be described as chaotic, robbing the law of that modicum of certainty which it must always possess, Justice Bhagwati observed;

“67. ….. The question is of some complexity and it has evoked wide diversity of judicial opinion not only amongst the different High Courts but also within some of the High Courts themselves. It is indeed unfortunate that though it became evident as far back as 1967 that sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 14 were presenting serious difficulties of construction in cases where property was received by a Hindu female in lieu of maintenance and the instrument granting such property prescribed a restricted estate for her in the property and divergence of judicial opinion was creating a situation which might well be described as chaotic, robbing the law of that modicum of certainty which it must always possess in order to guide the affairs of men, the legislature, for all these years, did not care to step in to remove the constructional dilemma facing the courts and adopted an attitude of indifference and inaction, untroubled and unmoved by the large number of cases on this point encumbering the files of different courts in the country, when by the simple expedient of an amendment, it could have silenced judicial conflict and put an end to needless litigation. This is a classic instance of a statutory provision which, by reason of its inapt draftsmanship, has created endless confusion for litigants and proved a paradise for lawyers….”

2. With this trepidation, they proceeded to resolve the confusion surrounding the interplay between sub-sections (1) and (2) of Section 14 of the Act and to enunciate the principles that govern disposition of property in favour of Hindu female. The principles formulated in Tulsamma, as extracted in paragraph 4 of this judgment, substantially hold the field. However as of date, there are atleast 18 judgments from this Court comprising decisions from two and three Judge benches that are varying and sometimes inconsistent with the view taken in Tulsamma’s case. While arriving at their respective decisions, these judgments sought to explain, distinguish, negotiate or ignore the principles in Tulsamma and in the process they have either contradicted Tulsamma or implicitly departed from its principles sub-silentio. Almost four decades after the judgment in Tulsamma, we have two streams of thoughts. While the first applies principles in Tulsamma as an inviolable principle steadfastly holding that property possessed by a Hindu female before or after the commencement of the Act shall be held by her as a full owner. The other seems to be evolving from case to case, influenced by, i) the method and manner by which the Hindu female is possessed of the property, ii) the instrument through which the right is acquired, and iii) the time at which such possession takes place, to mention a few.

3. Having gone through the precedents in detail, our endeavour was to reconcile the judgments and restate the principles with clarity and certainty. However, in view of the fact that we are in a combination of a two-Judge bench, such an exercise will not be fruitful as our judgment would be subject to the decision of many three Judge benches which need to be reconciled. The issue is of utmost importance as it affects the rights of every Hindu female, her larger family and such claims and objections that may be pending consideration in almost all o