MARY ROY Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These Writ Petitions raise an interesting question as to whether after the coming into force of the Part B States (Laws) Act, 1951, The Travancore Christian Succession Act, 1092 continues to govern intestate succession to the property of a member of the Indian Christian Community in the territories originally forming part of the erstwhile State of Travancore or is such intestate succession governed by the Indian Succession Act, 1925 and if it continues to be governed by the Travancore Christian Succession Act, 1092, whether Ss. 24, 28 and 29 of that Act are unconstitutional and void as being violative of Art. 14 of the Constitution. This question is of great importance because it affects the property rights of women belonging to the Indian Christian Community in the territories of the former State of Travancore. It is not necessary for the purpose of deciding this question to refer to the facts of any particular Writ Petition. It will be sufficient to trace the history of the legislation in regard to intestate succession to the property of members of the Indian Christian Community in the territories forming part of the erstwhile State of Travancore.

(2.) Prior to July 1949 the State of Travancore was a princely State and the law in force in the territories of that State in regard to intestate succession to the property of members of the Indian Christian Community was the Travancore Christian Succession Act, 1092. This Act was promulgated by His Highness the Maharaja of Travancore with a view to consolidating and amending the rules of law applicable to intestate succession among Indian Christians in Travancore. The statement of objects and seasons for enactment of this Act provided that "the usages of the various sections of the Christian Community do not agree in all respects. Separate legislation for the various sections of Christians is neither desirable nor practicable and is likely to lead to much litigation and trouble. It is therefore thought necessary to enact a common law for all the various sections of Indian Christians." Section 2 of the Act accordingly provided:

(3.) In or about July 1949 the former State of Travancore merged with the former State of Cochin to form Part-B State of travancore Cochin. There were also other Part-B States formed out of erstwhile princely States and they were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Pepsu, Rajasthan and Saurashtra. With a view to bringing about uniformity of legislation in the whole of India including Part-B States, Parliament enacted Part-B States (Laws) Act, 1951 providing for extension to Part-B States of certain Parliamentary Statutes prevailing in rest of India. Two sections of this Act are material, namely, Ss. 3 and 6 and they provide inter alia as follows: