INTERSECTIONALITY IN SUCCESSION LAWS: UNRAVELING CASTE, RELIGION, AND REGION IN THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956

AUTHOR – CHAHAT PORIYA* & DR. NIHARIKA SINGH**

*STUDENT AT AMITY UNIVERSITY, NOIDA, AMITY UNIVERSITY, NOIDA

** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT AMITY UNIVERSITY, NOIDA, AMITY UNIVERSITY, NOIDA

BEST CITATION – CHAHAT PORIYA & DR. NIHARIKA SINGH, INTERSECTIONALITY IN SUCCESSION LAWS: UNRAVELING CASTE, RELIGION, AND REGION IN THE HINDU SUCCESSION ACT, 1956, ILE MULTIDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL, 4 (2) OF 2025, PG. 67-73, APIS – 3920-0007 | ISSN – 2583-7230.

ABSTRACT

This research paper delves into the complex landscape of inheritance rights under India’s Hindu Succession Act (HSA), 1956, through the lens of intersectionality-a framework that recognizes how caste, religion, and region collectively shape individuals’ access to property and justice. While the HSA was envisioned as a progressive statute to democratize property distribution and promote gender equality, its implementation reveals persistent disparities, especially for marginalized groups such as Scheduled Tribe (ST) women, religious minorities, and rural populations. The Act’s formal provisions often clash with entrenched customary practices and social hierarchies, resulting in a de facto exclusion of many from its intended protections.

Drawing on legal analysis, landmark case studies, and ethnographic accounts, this paper exposes the multifaceted barriers that women and other disadvantaged groups face when asserting their inheritance rights. For example, the exclusion of tribal women from the HSA unless they conform to Hindu customs, the privileging of a husband’s family over a woman’s natal family in succession (Section 15), and the regional persistence of patriarchal traditions all demonstrate how statutory law is frequently undermined by intersecting axes of discrimination. The research highlights that these barriers are not merely additive but multiplicative, with each layer of identity-be it caste, faith, or geography-compounding the challenges of claiming property.

Moreover, the study examines the limitations of judicial and legislative reforms, including the 2005 amendment that made daughters coparceners, and reveals how these changes, though significant, have not fully addressed the lived realities of intersectional discrimination. Through comparative analysis with other legal systems and in-depth case narratives, the paper argues for a reconceptualization of inheritance law-one that transcends formal equality and actively confronts the unique disadvantages faced by those at the crossroads of multiple marginalized identities.

Ultimately, the paper advocates targeted legal reforms, such as amending Sections 2, 8, and 15 of the HSA, and for the adoption of community-based dispute resolution mechanisms that are sensitive to the intersectional nature of discrimination. By centering the experiences of those most affected, this research aims to inform a more equitable, inclusive, and contextually responsive approach to succession law in India, recognizing that true justice requires both legal and societal transformation