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Case Analysis: John Vallamattom & Anr. V. Union Of India




Kartikay Singhal, Jindal Global Law. School

1. BACKGROUND AND FACTS

This writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India, by a Christian priest, John Vallamattom, who in his petition challenged section 118 of the Indian Succession Act 1925, because it discriminates against Christians who bequeath their property for religious and charitable purposes.

Section 118 owes its origin to the British statute of Mortmain. It was brought into India and inserted as section 118 in the Indian Succession Act 1925, and is only applicable to Christians (except for the state of Goa), where no man having a nephew or niece, or any other nearer relative shall bequeath any property to religious or charitable uses, except by a will executed not less than twelve months before death and deposited (in some place of law for safe custody) within six months from its execution.

Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research

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Abbreviation: IJLLR

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ISSN: 2582-8878

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Website: www.ijllr.com

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Accessibility: Open Access

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License: Creative Commons 4.0

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All research articles published in The Indian Journal of Law and Legal Research are fully open access. i.e. immediately freely available to read, download and share. Articles are published under the terms of a Creative Commons license which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

 

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The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the IJLLR or its members. The designations employed in this publication and the presentation of material therein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IJLLR.

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