The Supreme Court held that a Hindu widow’s limited interest in Delhi agricultural land became absolute under Section 14(1) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, and dismissed the appeal by the first husband’s heirs.
A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta has set aside the Telangana High Court’s order refusing to recall a September 2020 compromise decree in a partition dispute, holding that the decree, obtained without impleading the heirs of a daughter entitled to a 1/4th share under Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, was a nullity, and has remitted the matter to the High Court for hearing on October 5, 2026.
The Kerala High Court has declared a wife the exclusive owner of 7 cents of land and a two-storey house at Manjeri, bought in the joint names of the spouses with her father’s money, and directed the husband to vacate within three months, while rejecting her claim for 80 sovereigns of gold, Rs 3.35 lakh and past maintenance and the husband’s counterclaim.
The Supreme Court held that advocates cannot surrender or compromise a client’s substantive property rights without explicit authorisation. The Court ruled that a compromise decree based solely on a lawyer’s consent, without the client’s signature or approval, is legally unsustainable under the Civil Procedure Code.
