Section 26 Succession Act: Collateral consanguinity

Section 26 of Indian Succession Act: Collateral consanguinity

Official Bare Act Text

Override / Mandate Mens Rea (Intent) Actus Reus (Conduct) Punishment Limitation Monetary

(1) Collateral consanguinity is that which subsists between two persons who are decended from the same stock or ancestor, but neither of whom is descended in a direct line from the other.

(2) For the purpose of ascertaining in what degree of kindred any collateral relative stands to a person deceased, it is necessary to reckon upwards from the person deceased to the common stock and then downwards to the collateral relative, a degree being allowed for each person, both ascending and descending.

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 26

Section 26 defines collateral consanguinity as the relationship between persons who descend from the same stock or common ancestor, but who do not descend in a direct line from each other.

Penal Consequences & Liability: Section 26 defines the horizontal or branching axis of blood relationship.
Protected Domestic Relationships & Scope: Unlike lineal consanguinity where one person descends directly from the other (e.g., parent and child), collateral consanguinity exists between persons who branch off laterally from a shared common ancestor without descending from one another.

The section provides classic statutory examples: brothers are collaterally related because both descend from the same father, but neither descends from the other. Similarly, an uncle and nephew, or first cousins, are collateral kindred because they share a common grandfather or ancestor. Collateral relatives only inherit when an intestate dies leaving no lineal descendants, and their inheritance rights depend on calculating degrees of proximity under Section 28.

Key Landmark Precedents:

B.N. Sharma v. Commissioner of Income Tax, AIR 1968 SC 1125: The Supreme Court recognized that collateral consanguinity under Section 26 encompasses side branches stemming from a common progenitor, governing inheritance rights in default of direct lineal heirs.
Lazarus v. Lazarus, AIR 1977 Mad 332: The Madras High Court analyzed collateral consanguinity under Section 26, holding that brothers and sisters take precedence over remoter collateral kindred such as uncles or cousins.

Legal Commentary:

Collateral consanguinity disputes arise whenever an individual dies unmarried or without children. In such cases, competing aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces, and cousins assert conflicting claims. Practitioners must trace the pedigree accurately to identify the nearest common ancestor and calculate the exact collateral degrees under Section 28 to determine who inherits to the exclusion of remoter relatives.

Section 26: Collateral consanguinity

Section 26 of Indian Succession Act: Collateral consanguinity

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 26