Subsequent Adoption Can’t Divest Any Person Of Estate Vested In Him Or Her Prior To Adoption: SC [Read Judgment]

Adopted son would not divest any person in whom the property had been vested prior to adoption, the bench said.

The Supreme Court in Saheb Reddy vs. Sharanappa, has reiterated the legal position that an adopted child cannot divest any person of any estate which was vested in him or her before the adoption.

In the instant case, the property of one Sharnappa, upon his death in 1957, was vested in his widow and three daughters. His widow adopted a son in 1971. In a suit for partition by one of the heirs, the trial court held that the adoption would not take away right and interest of other members of the family, which they had received prior to the date of adoption by virtue of the provisions of Section 12(c) of the Adoption Act.

The Bench comprising Justice Anil R Dave and Justice L Nageswara Rao, in the facts of the case, observed that the property, which had been vested in the widow and three daughters of the late Shri Sharnappa Gaded in 1957, would not be disturbed because of adoption of defendant No.1, which had taken place on 9th February, 1971.

Section 12(c) of the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act, 1956, clearly states that the adopted child shall not divest any person of any estate which was vested in him or her before the adoption.

Read the Judgment here.

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