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Section 27: Succession when heir disqualified

Hindu Succession Act • Official Statutory Text & Practice Guide

Statutory Regulation
Legal Standard
Competent Court / Tribunal
Act 1956
Section 26 All 31 Sections The Schedule (Heirs) Section 28

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 27

Section 27 enacts the statutory rule that if any person is disqualified from inheriting property under the Hindu Succession Act, the property devolves as if the disqualified person had died before the intestate.

  • Deeming Fiction of Predecease: If any person is disqualified from inheriting any property under this Act, it shall devolve as if such person had died before the intestate.
  • Elimination of Disqualified Lineage Barrier: Ensures that the disqualification of an individual (e.g., a murderer under Section 25) does not penalize innocent children of the disqualified person unless independently disqualified.
  • Direct Devolution to Next Heirs: The property skips the disqualified person and vests immediately in the next entitled statutory heir in the schedule.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Vellikannu v. R. Singaperumal (2005) 6 SCC 622: The Supreme Court held that under Section 25 r/w Section 27, a son who murders his father is disqualified and deemed to have predeceased the father; consequently, the murderer's wife cannot claim through him as a widow of a coparcener.
  • Arunachala Gounder v. Ponnusamy (2022) 11 SCC 520: Affirmed that Section 27 provides an orderly, seamless transition of inheritance by treating disqualified heirs as non-existent.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

When disqualifying an heir under Section 25 (murder) or Section 26 (convert's descendants), invoke Section 27 to calculate the distribution of shares. Treat the disqualified heir as deceased, causing the estate to devolve directly upon the next qualifying heirs.

Section 26 All 31 Sections The Schedule (Heirs) Section 28