The Karnataka High Court has dismissed an appeal filed by a woman seeking an equal share in several properties held by her father, ruling that the properties were not ancestral or joint family assets but his separate properties. The court held that a daughter can claim rights as a coparcener only in ancestral or coparcenary property and not in assets that became the father's individual property.
The judgment was delivered on June 16, 2026, by a Division Bench comprising Justice D.K. Singh and Justice T.M. Nadaf.
Background of the Case
The appeal arose from a partition suit filed by Usha N. Swamy against her parents and sister. She claimed that agricultural lands, residential properties, bank deposits, investments, and other assets were part of a Hindu joint family estate and sought an equal share in them.
According to the plaintiff, certain agricultural lands originally belonged to her grandfather and later came into her father's hands. She argued that these properties retained their ancestral character, giving her a birthright as a daughter under the amended provisions of the Hindu Succession Act.
The trial court had dismissed her suit in 2018, holding that the properties were not available for partition. Challenging that decision, she approached the High Court.
The appellant contended that the trial court had committed an error by treating inherited properties as the father's absolute assets. She argued that once it was accepted that the properties came from her grandfather, they should be treated as ancestral property in which daughters have equal rights.
Relying on the Supreme Court's ruling in Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma, the appellant submitted that daughters are coparceners by birth and are entitled to claim partition in ancestral property.
The respondents, however, maintained that the properties were originally purchased by the grandfather as his self-acquired assets. They argued that when those properties were later distributed among his children through a family arrangement and partition, the shares received became their individual properties and did not retain any coparcenary character.
Court’s Observations
After examining the evidence, the High Court found that the plaintiff's own evidence weakened her claim.
The Bench noted that the plaintiff's uncle, who appeared as a witness on her behalf, admitted during cross-examination that the disputed properties had been purchased by the grandfather and that the properties allotted to the plaintiff's father under the partition were his absolute properties.
Referring to settled principles of Hindu law, the court observed that a person acquiring property from the self-acquired assets of a parent does not automatically receive it as ancestral property.
The Bench observed,
“These properties became individual/separate properties of defendant No.1. Therefore, plaintiff would not have any right to claim partition of these properties.”
The court further emphasized that rights under Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act arise only in coparcenary property. Merely because property once belonged to an ancestor does not mean it becomes ancestral property for future generations.
Addressing the appellant's argument that the defendants had not led evidence, the court stated that a plaintiff must first establish her own case. The absence of defence evidence could not compensate for the plaintiff's failure to prove the ancestral nature of the properties.
As the Bench put it,
“The plaintiff must stand on her own legs and prove her case on her own evidence.”
Decision
The High Court concluded that the plaintiff had failed to prove that the disputed properties were ancestral or coparcenary properties. It found no error in the trial court's judgment dismissing the partition suit.
Accordingly, the court dismissed the appeal and upheld the judgment and decree passed by the trial court.
Case Details:
Case Title: Smt. Usha N. Swamy v. Sri M. Venkataswamy & Others
Case Number: RFA No. 1568 of 2018
Court: High Court of Karnataka
Judges: Justice D.K. Singh and Justice T.M. Nadaf
Decision Date: June 16, 2026
