Bilaspur
On the death of an unmarried daughter, the adopted father filed a petition in the High Court regarding the right to her property, which has been rejected by the court. Keeping the decision of the lower court, a single bench of Justice NK Vyas said that the adopted father cannot be made the heir to the property of an unmarried daughter. The court said that the adoptive daughter’s documents cannot be considered a successor on the basis of being a nominee nor is it sufficient. The adopted father cannot successor the bank, insurance or other movable real estate of an unmarried daughter.
In fact, Pancharam Patel, the younger brother of Kithibhushan Patel, a resident of Pusaur in Raigad district, was working in the post of constable in the police department. She was married to Phulkumari Patel in 1987. This led to the birth of a daughter Kumari Jyoti Patel. On 7 May 1993, wife Phulkumari left her in -laws. Daughter Jyoti lived with her grandfather Kamaldhar. Pancharam Patel died during service on 26 June 1999. After this, Dada Kamaldhar Patel also died. After this, Pancharam’s elder brother appellant Khitibhushan duly adopted Jyoti Patel as a daughter and kept maintenance, education and full upbringing with her.
Jyoti Patel got compassionate appointment in the police department. Unfortunately on 17 September 2014, Jyoti died in an unmarried state. All banks, insurance policys and other documents of the deceased adopted daughter are the adopted father. After the death of the daughter, the adopted father submitted an application to the Civil Court to receive the amount deposited in her account. He had appealed to the High Court against the cancellation of the application.
During the hearing of the case, the court said, “Under the policy issued by the nominated person insurance company, the amount or the bank is entitled to receive the deposit in the savings account or the fixed deposit receipt, but his distribution will be according to his succession law.” Since the party is Hindu, the property of the deceased will be distributed under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 and the deceased is a woman, so her property will be distributed according to sections 15 and 16 of the Act 1956. The legal heirs specified in sub -section (1), the mother insurance company or the bank or employer, will be entitled to obtain the inheritance of the property deposited in the sub -section (1) due to the category C of Section 15 of the Act.
It is appropriate to mention here that the deceased is an unmarried woman and the father of the deceased has also died, so the mother is the only legal heir to get succession of the properties included in the applications filed to provide succession. The High Court has rejected the appeal presented against the order passed by the adopted father.
