This document provides a research proposal submitted by Megha Sood that examines the effectiveness of the 2005 amendment to the Hindu Succession Act of 1956 in securing equal inheritance rights for daughters in the Doaba region of Punjab, India. The proposal outlines the background and importance of the research topic. It establishes the research objectives, which include identifying barriers that obstruct implementation of the amendment and determining if daughters have actually benefited. The methodology will use qualitative empirical research through interviews and doctrinal research. The proposal reviews relevant literature and concludes by outlining the research questions.

1. Submitted By:
Megha Sood
Appl. No. C21000017
B.A LLB (Hons.)
LLM (International laws)
UGC-NET

2. 
 Parkash vs. Phulavati (Oct. 16, 2016)
 Mangamal @ Thulasi & Anr. Vs T.B Raju & Ors.
(Apr. 19, 2018)
 Danamma @ Suman Surpur vs Amar (Feb. 1, 2018)
 Vineeta Sharma vs Rakesh Sharma (Aug. 11, 2020)
IMPORTANT CASE LAWS

3. 
 In 2005, India witnessed an amendment to the Hindu
Succession Act of 1956. It gave daughters equal inheritance
rights as sons. Since the independence of the nation there has
been paradigm shift in the roles and capabilities of women.
 The shift has been for the betterment of the women, but
majority of women still faces gender discrimination in every
walk of life.
 If laws are enacted for amelioration of condition of women,
these must encompass every sphere which touches women life
and aimed at socio-economic and political empowerment of
women. This is where the author’s research will revolve
around.
 This study will find that how effectively has the
implementation of the above stated amendment of 2005 to the
Hindu Succession Act of 1956 benefitted the daughters of
Doaba region of Punjab in securing their equal rights in
ancestral property as sons even if their father died before the
Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 came into force.
INTRODUCTION
“A son is a son until he gets a wife. A daughter is a
daughter throughout her life”

4. 
 No doubt, the amendment has in one stroke makes ‘the
daughter of a coparcener’ by birth a coparcener in her own
right.
 But practically if we see the reality, the practicability and the
implications of new amendment, there are still very important
drawbacks or loopholes in this amending Act which have been
left out either incidentally or deliberately by the makers of new
Act.
 The reason is that in spite of these democratic enactments
certain types of social and economic disabilities prevent the
women from exercising their human rights and freedom in
society.
 As a result of this, the women do not enjoy complete legal
equality with men in Indian society especially in the area of
succession or inheritance or proprietary rights. Henceforth the
present study will throw the light on the efficacy of the
amendment at the grass root level particularly in Doaba region
of Punjab.
SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH

5. 
 It is not easy for women to antagonise their natal family and
approach the courts, seeking an assertion of their property
rights. Social stigma and victim blaming are also likely to deter
her from asserting her rights.
 Women are often persuaded to relinquish their property rights
in the interest of peace and harmony in the family.
 Assertion of rights through the law is premised upon
awareness of rights.
 Therefore this study will find out the ground reality of the level
of awareness of women’s right in the ancestral property in
Doaba region of Punjab.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM

6. 
The Objectives of the Study are as follows:
 To identify the various lacunae in the formal system and
prevailing social practices & barriers that obstructs an effective
implementation of the amendment.
 To identify that whether the daughters are denied economic
and social equality within the family.
 To find out that through deeply patriarchal social practices,
dowry is substituted for daughters while land & inheritance
rights are associated with sons in the family.
 To review the various mechanisms at the state level meant to
ensure the level of effective implementation of the amendment
of 2005.
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

7. 
 To determine whether the daughters in the Doaba region of
Punjab have actually been benefitted from the judgement at the
ground level.
 To devise the strategies for addressing social, economic &
cultural barriers which are entrenched in the Indian society,
which are retraining the effective implementation of the
amendment of 2005.
CONTI.

8. 
 What types of proprietary rights have been given to the Hindu
women under the Hindu Succession Act, 1956?
 What is the impact of the new amendment on the rights of
women?
 To what extent the females are allowed to exercise their
proprietary rights?
 Whether the daughters in the Doaba region of Punjab have
actually benefitted from the judgement at the ground level?
 What are the barriers that obstruct an effective implementation
of the amendment?
 What are the strategies which can be devised to address social,
economic & cultural barriers, restraining the effective
implementation of the amendment of 2005?
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

9. 
 To pursue the objectives mentioned above, the present study
includes empirical qualitative and doctrinal research methods.
 With regard to the empirical part of the research the researcher
will be using non-probability sampling and will be collecting
data from the daughters, women of all four districts of the
Doaba region of Punjab using convenience sampling.
 For the purpose of the doctrinal study, mostly reliance will be
placed on secondary data/material collected from various
sources like books, encyclopaedia, journals, law reviews,
newspapers, websites, laws and judicial pronouncements.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

10. 
For the purpose of this research proposal, I have done literature
review of the following sources:
 Dr. Ashok K. Sircar & Sohini Pal, “What Is Preventing Women
From Inheriting Land? A Study of The Implementation Of The
Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 In Three States In
India” 2 Journal of Critical Reviews 53-67 (2010).
 Rahul Suresh Sapka, “From Mother to Daughter: Do Equal
Inheritance Property Laws Reform Improve Female Labour
Supply, Educational Attainments in India?”3 International
Journal of Research in Applied Sciences 41-49 (2016).
 ApoorvaMandhani, “SC Tuesday held that daughters will have
equal rights in ancestral property as sons even if their father
died before the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 2005 came
into force.” The Hindu, Aug. 11, 2020.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE

11. 
 ShrutiMahajan, “Daughters become equal coparceners at birth
even if born prior to 2005 amendment to Hindu Succession Act:
Supreme Court” The Times of India, Aug. 11, 2020.
 V. Venkatesan, “The Project of Reforming the Hindu Succession
Act Is Far From Over’: Dr.Saumya Uma” The Hindu, Aug. 17,
2020.
 Womens Right under Hindu Succession Act, 1956, available at:
https://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/handle/10603/20322?mode
=full (last visited on June 6, 2021).
 The Hindu Succession Act: One Law, Plural Identities, available
at:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.50
7.3972&rep=rep1&type=pdf (last visited on June 6, 2021).
CONTI.