Coparcenary In Modern India: A Legacy To Preserve Or A Barrier To Uniform Inheritance?
- IJLLR Journal
- Jul 4
- 1 min read
Kamna, Integrated Law Course, Faculty of Law, Delhi University
ABSTRACT
The concept of coparcenary that has been established in Hindu personal law since ancient times has always governed the inheritance system among joint Hindu families thus conferring birth-based rights to male descendants. The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act of 2005 was a watershed moment as it acknowledged daughters as equal coparceners, a step closer to gender justice in inheritance rights. However, the presence of the coparcenary system—a concept strictly limited to Hindus—continues to spark debate on its conflicts with India’s constitutional principles of equality, secularism, and uniformity in personal laws in the country. This paper also charts the early history of coparcenary from Vedic texts and British translation to the present day. It studies critically how the system conforms to or diverges from the expectations of the Uniform Civil Code and the Harvard Law Review where two consistent guidelines, namely tradition, legal pluralism, and modern constitutional mandates, are in conflict. The research study examines the impact of landmark court rulings, gender justice, and the current practical issues that come with the application of coparcenary in contemporary Indian society to assess whether it is still a necessary legacy or it now represents a major flaw in the goal of an inheritance frame that is truly uniform and egalitarian.
Keywords: Coparcenary, Inheritance, Uniformity
