Equal Treatment for Women on Inheritance

Context: Unequal treatment of women on matters of inheritance is one brick in the wall that holds back engagement of women in the economy.

Issues with Gender Equality in India

• A lost opportunity for economic growth: 

• Low Participation in the workforce: just 8% of the women and 6.6% of urban women of the age group 16-64 were working, which is worse than Bangladesh.

• Gender Equality is often restricted to the view of moral issue and concern of some activists.
• Paternalistic view of the Law: The Supreme Court in Om Prakash vs. Radhacharan (2009) highlighted that the law governing intestate succession favours male lineage.

• Conflict with the equal treatment and non-discrimination concepts of the Constitution

• Under Article 15(1), the Indian state cannot enact laws which discriminate between Indian citizens solely on the basis of religion, caste, sex, and place of birth.
• In a landmark case, Mamta Dinesh Vakil vs Bansi Wadhwa (2012), the Bombay High Court stated that different schemes of devolution for men and women constitute discrimination solely on the basis of sex, and violate Article 15(1).

•  Inter-religious discrimination: The present law gives Hindu women an inferior treatment when compared with women of other religions.

• For, E.g. inheritance rights of Christians, Parsi, Jewish and Muslim women are more protected than under the Hindu Succession Act. 

• Violative of international commitments: on discrimination against women.

Need/Opportunities for Gender Equality:

• A positive relationship with economic growth: If the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for women is increased from 8% to 48%, it will lead to 

• Enlargement of the Indian workforce by 50%.
• Growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) by 50 %-  would contribute 4% a year to GDP growth over 10-year.

• Rejected Worldwide: Differential treatment by gender in matters of succession has been removed in countries including France (1804), the Netherlands (the late 1800s), Sri Lanka (1894), Germany (1905), England (1925), Thailand (1925), and Brazil (1988).

•  Even within India, we see sound treatment in the Indian Succession Act and in Goa.

• Enlightened Political thinking: 

• In 2005, the Hindu Succession Act was amended to give better rights to daughters.
•  On August 11, 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the 2005 amendment was applicable to women born before the amendment.

Way Forward:

• Need for tangible actions: These actions pertain to issues such as labour law, safety of women, and property rights of women; all of which will add up to women as first-class members of Indian society.

Conclusion: When the Indian state gives equal treatment to women on property rights, this will change the incentives for women to work and thus help the country grow economically and socially.