Notwithstanding that marriage is null and void under section 11, any child of such marriage who would have been legitimate if the marriage had been valid, shall be legitimate, whether such child is born before or after the commencement of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Act, 1976 (68 of 1976), and whether or not a decree of nullity is granted in respect of that marriage under this Act and whether or not the marriage is held to be void otherwise than on a petition under this Act.
Where a decree of nullity is granted in respect of a voidable marriage under section 12, any child begotten or conceived before the decree is made, who would have been the legitimate child of the parties to the marriage if at the date of the decree it had been dissolved instead of being annulled, shall be deemed to be their legitimate child notwithstanding the decree of nullity.
Nothing contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be construed as conferring upon any child of a marriage which is null and void or which is annulled by a decree of nullity under section 12, any rights in or to the property of any person, other than the parents, in any case where, but for the passing of this Act, such child would have been incapable of possessing or acquiring any such rights by reason of his not being the legitimate child of his parents.
Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 16
Section 16 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 establishes statutory legitimacy for children born of void and voidable marriages and confers defined succession rights.
Crucially, sub-section (3) regulates inheritance, enacting that nothing contained in sub-sections (1) or (2) shall be construed as conferring upon any child of a void or voidable marriage any rights in or to the property of any person, other than the parents, in any case where, but for the passing of this Act, such child would have been incapable of possessing or acquiring any such rights by reason of not being the legitimate child of the parents.
Section 16 represents one of the most progressive statutory fictions in Indian family law. Following the landmark 2023 ruling in Revanasiddappa, the long-standing judicial debate regarding whether Section 16(3) restricts inheritance solely to the parent's self-acquired property has been conclusively resolved: children of void/voidable marriages are entitled to succeed to both self-acquired property and the parent's share in ancestral coparcenary property.