Stridhan And Woman’s Estate

According to Mitakshara II ix, Stridhan means woman’s property. In the entire history of Hindu Law, woman’s rights to hold and dispose of property has been recognized.

Woman’s Property

What is the character of property that is whether it is stridhan or woman’s estate, depends on the source from which it has been obtained. They are:

Gifts and bequests from relations- Such gifts may be made to woman during maidenhood, coverture or widowhood by her parents and their relations or by the husband and his relation. Such gifts may be inter vivos or by will. The Dayabhaga School doesn’t recognize gifts of immovable property by husband as stridhan (Ref Banerjee, Hindu Law of Marrriage and Stridhan, Pg 321)

Gifts and bequests from non-relations- Property received by way of gift inter vivos or under a will of strangers that is, other than relations, to a woman, during maidenhood or widowhood constitutes her stridhan. The same is the position of gifts given to a woman by strangers before the nuptial fire or at the bridal procession. Property given to a woman by a gift inter vivos or bequeathed to her by her strangers during coverture is stridhan according to Bombay, Benaras and Madras schools.

Property acquired by self exertion, science and arts-A woman may acquire property at any stage of her life by her own self exertion such as by manual labour, by employment, by singing, dancing etc., or by any mechanical art. According to all schools of Hindu Law, the property thus acquired during widowhood or maidenhood is her stridhan. But, the property thus acquired during coverture does not constitute her stridhan according to Mithila and Bengal Schools, but according to the rest of the schools it is stridhan. During husband’s lifetime it is subject to his control.

Property purchased with the income of stridhan- In all schools of Hindu Law it is a well settled law that the properties purchased with stridhan or with the savings of stridhan as well as all accumulations and savings of the income of stridhan, constitute stridhan.

Property purchased under a compromise- When a person acquires property under a compromise; what estate he will take in it, depends upon the compromise deed. In Hindu Law there is no presumption that a woman who obtains property under a compromise takes it as a limited estate. Property obtained by a woman under a compromise where under she gives up her rights, will be her stridhan. When she obtains some property under a family arrangement, whether she gets a stridhan or woman’s estate will depend upon the terms of the family arrangement.

Property obtained by adverse possession- Any property acquired by a woman at any stage of her life by adverse possession is her stridhan.

Property obtained in lieu of maintenance- Under all the schools of Hindu Law payments made to a Hindu female in lump sum or periodically for her maintenance and all the arrears of such maintenance constitute stridhan. Similarly, all movable or immovable properties transferred to her by way of an absolute gift in lieu of maintenance constitute her stridhan.

Property received in inheritance- A Hindu female may inherit property from a male or a female; from her parent’s side or from husband’s side. The Mitakshara constituted all inherited property a stidhan, while the Privy Council held such property as woman’s estate.

Property obtained on partition- When a partition takes place except in Madras, father’s wife mother and grandmother take a share in the joint family property. In the Mitakshara jurisdiction, including Bombay and the Dayabhaga school it is an established view that the share obtained on partition is not stridhan but woman’s estate.

If she were a married woman. For a married woman stridhan falls under two heads:

the sauadayika (gifts of love and affection)- gifts received by a woman from relations on both sides (parents and husband).

the non-saudayika- all other types of stridhan such as gifts from stranger, peoperty acquired by self-exertion or mechanical art.....

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