Tuesday, February 8 2005 14:53 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice has invited suggestions from experts and others on the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Bill, 2004, which was introduced in the Rajya Sabha during the winter session of Parliament.

The Committee, headed by E M Nachiappan, has invited suggestions and views on the bill, according to an official release.

The Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which amended and codified the law of succession among Hindus to give property Rights to women, does not apply to the members of the Hindu Mitakshara coparency thereby depriving their women any share in ancestral property and negating the Fundamental Right of Equality guaranteed by the Constitution.

The present bill seeks to remove this discrimination by giving equal rights to daughters in the Hindu Mitakshara coparency property as the sons have.

Another important amendment suggested by the bill is intended to allow female heirs the right to ask for partition of a dwelling wholly occupied by a joint family.