SATYA CHARAN DUTTA Vs. URMILLA SUNDARI DASAI

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is an appeal by certificate from a judgment of the Calcutta High Court.

(2.) The facts may be briefly stated. One Ratnamala Dassi who was governed by the Bengal School of Hindu Law as modified by the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, hereinafter called the Act, died intestate in January 1964 leaving no issue or lineal descendants. Her husband Monmotha Nath Dutt had pre-deceased her. The said Ratnamala Dassi left her surviving the appellant and respondents 2 and 3, the brothers of her husband and respondent 1, Urmila Sundari Dassi her husband's sister. In 1964 respondent No. 1 instituted a suit for a declaration that as an heiress of Ratnamala Dassi she had 1/4 share in the movable and immovable property left by her and that she be allotted her share by partition of those properties. The appellant entered appearance and took up the plea in his written statement that under the Act he and respondents 2 and 3 being the brothers of the husband of the deceased Ratnamala Dassi were the heirs in preference to respondent 1 who was the sister of the deceased's husband. The suit was tried on the original side by a learned Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court who granted a preliminary decree on December 23, 1964 in favour of respondent 1 holding that she had 1/4 share in the estate left by Ratnamala Dassi. The appellant preferred an appeal to a Division Bench which was dismissed.

(3.) The sole point which has to be considered is whether, according to the order of succession as laid down in Class II of the Schedule to Section 8 of the Act, brother would succeed in preference to the sister or whether the brother and sister would succeed jointly having equal shares According to Section 15 (1) when a female Hindu dies intestate her property devolves according to the Rules set out in Section 16. Section 15 divides the groups of heirs of a female dying intestate into five categories described as Entries (a) to (e). We are concerned, in the present case, with Entry (b) which is "secondly, upon the heirs of the husband". Section 16 provides that the order of succession among heirs referred to in Sec. 15 shall be and the distribution of the intestate's property among those heirs shall take place according to the following rules: