In Brief
This case concerns the inheritance rights of children born to a Hindu prior to his adoption. The Supreme Court held that such pre-adoptive children are full heirs to the adoptive father's property under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956. Since succession opened after the adoptee's death in 1987, the Act—not pre-codification Hindu law—applies. The Act contains no bar to pre-adoptive children inheriting, and they remain blood relations (agnates) falling within Class I heirs. The Court rejected arguments based on pre-1956 Hindu law, holding that the Act overrides prior law and customs in covered matters. All children—whether born before or after adoption—are equally entitled to inherit from their natural father.
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