Women to get equal share in property

To encourage women rights in property, government has provided less tax liabilities for properties transferred in the name of women.

Indian women own less than 10 percent of private property. While legislation is moving towards giving women equal share in their husband's and father's ancestral property, the mindset is yet to change. Currently, property rights of women are governed by personal laws and customs.

Satyajeet Desai, a renowned Hindu Law expert, says, "In 2005, the Hindu Succession Act was amended to give women equal share in their father's ancestral property and make them a coparcener. Hence, now a daughter can ask for a share in her father's property, but cannot sell the property if her brothers reside in it unless everyone mutually agrees." This still does not bridge the gap between providing equal ownership to men and women.

In case of succession amongst Christians governed by the Indian Succession Act 1925, a woman has rights only by will in which her share in the property should be explicitly mentioned. Muslim women, on the other hand, are entitled to half of the share their brother gets in familial property. A Muslim widow and mother are also entitled to get share in their husband and son's property respectively. However, there is no equality in the property divided amongst male and female Muslim heirs.

The only time a woman thus becomes entitled to property is through stridhan or Mehr which is the gift of property given to women during marriage. In such cases, the property vests exclusively in the woman and no one else can claim any right over it.

Sharvari Dalal, a sociology professor at BK Majmudar Institute of Business Adminstration, Ahmedabad, observes, "In case of matrimonial property regimes, India follows a separate property regime where the property of the husband does not become joint upon marriage, but continues to vest in his name."

Dalal further adds, "In many western countries such as the US which follow common property regime, such property would be divided equally amongst the spouses upon divorce."

Darshan Panchal, a real estate lawyer with K Nanavati & Gandhi Associates, says, "In India, where huge tracts of land are owned by families, if the father dies intestate, the property is divided equally amongst heirs including daughters and wife. While researching title deeds, we see a lot of cases where the female heirs are persuaded to release their rights in the land in favour of their brothers upon payment of compensation amount or even for free." Saket Gandhi, his colleague, adds, "Due to the mentality of sacrificing everything for male members of family, the ratio of realising rights is higher in rural areas. Women need to be made aware of their rights."

Just as various laws have been amended to give women benefits such as in income tax, company laws and personal laws, subsidies must exist in sale transactions for encouraging women to buy property in Gujarat.

Uttam Gandhi, managing partner at K Nanavati & Gandhi Associates, rightly points out, "Transferring property in the name of wives and daughter yield lesser tax liabilities and is encouraged to increase wealth. It is being practiced amongst high network individuals to divide the liability between the spouses."

Original article available at Times website