Hindu women to inherit assets of fathers dying without will: Indian Supreme Court

India's Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the daughters of a male Hindu dying without a will would be entitled to inherit father's self-acquired and other properties obtained in the partition.

In the landmark ruling dealing with the property rights of Hindu women and widows under the Hindu Succession Act, the apex court also said that the daughters would get preference over other collateral members of the family like children of the father's brothers, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The bench of justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari also ruled that in case a female Hindu dies without leaving a will, the property she inherited from her father or mother would go to the heirs of her father while the property she inherited from her husband or father-in-law would go to the heirs of the husband.

The judgment came on an appeal against the Madras high court verdict dismissing the partition suit of the daughters.