Gurupad Khandappa Magdum v Hirabai Khandappa Magdum

Facts

• On the death of a coparcener in a joint Hindu family, a dispute arose regarding the share to which his widow was entitled, given the operation of the proviso to Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, which required a notional partition to ascertain the deceased's share before applying intestate succession rules. The widow contended she was entitled to a share as if an actual partition had taken place among all coparceners immediately before her husband's death, in addition to her inherited share as an heir.

Issue

1. How should a female heir's share be computed under the proviso to Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act, and what does "notional partition" require in practical terms.

Held

• The Supreme Court held that the fiction of notional partition under the proviso to Section 6 must be carried to its logical conclusion: it is not merely a device to ascertain the deceased coparcener's share, but requires assuming that an actual partition had taken place among all coparceners immediately before the death. Consequently, the widow was entitled to the share she would have received had an actual partition occurred, calculated on that notional partition, and this share then devolves upon her along with her share as an heir under the general succession rules. The effect is generally to increase the share available to the female heir, compared to a narrower reading that would have limited the fiction only to computing the deceased's notional share without full partition consequences.

Ratio Decidendi

The statutory fiction of notional partition under Section 6 of the Hindu Succession Act must be given full and complete effect, as though an actual partition had taken place immediately before the coparcener's death, and shares must be computed on that basis before intestate succession rules operate on the deceased's notional share.