Widows have right on ‘maintenance’ property: SC
NEW DELHI: The right to maintenance of a Hindu widow is not a "mere formality" but a spiritual and moral right that can be judicially enforced upon by claiming "absolute right" on the property given to her for sustaining herself, the Supreme Court has ruled.
A bench, headed by Justice M Y Eqbal, while upholding a Andhra Pradesh high court verdict in favour of a widow who had transferred the property willed to her by her husband for her lifetime to a relative, said it was the woman's "absolute right" and she was free to bequeath the property.
"It is well settled that under the Hindu Law, the husband has got a personal obligation to maintain his wife and if he is possessed of properties, then his wife is entitled to a right to be maintained out of such properties. "It is equally well settled that the claim of Hindu widow to be maintained is not a mere formality which is to be exercised as a matter of concession, grace or gratis but is a valuable, spiritual and moral right," the bench, which also comprised Justice C Nagappan, said.
A bench, headed by Justice M Y Eqbal, while upholding a Andhra Pradesh high court verdict in favour of a widow who had transferred the property willed to her by her husband for her lifetime to a relative, said it was the woman's "absolute right" and she was free to bequeath the property.
"It is well settled that under the Hindu Law, the husband has got a personal obligation to maintain his wife and if he is possessed of properties, then his wife is entitled to a right to be maintained out of such properties. "It is equally well settled that the claim of Hindu widow to be maintained is not a mere formality which is to be exercised as a matter of concession, grace or gratis but is a valuable, spiritual and moral right," the bench, which also comprised Justice C Nagappan, said.
-https://www.lawweb.in/2015/11/widows-have-right-on-maintenance.html
