Anticipated Lives And Legal Rights: Unpacking Property Law For The Unborn
- IJLLR Journal
- Apr 9
- 2 min read
Archisha Warrier, O.P. Jindal Global University
I. INTRODUCTION
The evolution of human life from Australopithecus afarensis to the current stature of Homo sapiens happened over a long period of time. The innate ability of human beings to construct their own world has been remarkable. With the changes in science and the rapid advances in technology, we are constructing broader terms of legality.
There are two things in the world that for sure will happen in a person’s life- birth and death. These questions are too controversial in nature and really have no conclusive answer. The question of when exactly a child acquires legal rights is one of the greatest curiosities in life.
The debate starts with trying to define the ambiguous term of “personhood”. When does a person start to acquire legal rights? Can an unborn person be called a “person” so as to have legal rights? The evolving jurisprudence around these questions makes it arduous to piece- together a single definition.
The Transfer of Property Act1 recognizes the existence of the unborn. Section 52 of the Act purports that the transfer of property act deals with only transfers inter vivos. The complexity arises when Section 133 of the Act states that property can be transferred for the benefit of an unborn person. This is the beginning of the complex nature of this provision.
The objective of this research paper is to understand the intricacies of the aspect of “unborn person” as laid out in the TPA. The paper seeks to address the major lacunae regarding transfer of property for the benefit of an unborn person. The paper also seeks to understand the contemporary nature of the jurisprudence of the provisions related to the unborn and how it sways with the changes in the notions of society.
