Shreya Vidyarthi Vs. Ashok Vidyarthi & Ors.
|
Head Note
Civil Law - Insurance claim
Insurance Act, 1938, Section 39 - Insurance Claim - Nominee - Held that a mere nomination made under Section 39 of the Act does not have the effect of conferring on the nominee any beneficial interest in the amount payable under the life insurance policy on the death of the assured - The nomination only indicates the hand which is authorised to receive the amount, on the payment of which the insurer gets a valid discharge of its liability under the policy - The amount, however, can be claimed by the heirs of the assured in accordance with the law of succession governing them.
Civil Law - HUF
Hindu Law - HUF - Hindu Widow - Karta - Held that a Hindu Widow is not a coparcener in the HUF of her husband and, therefore, cannot act as Karta of the HUF after the death of her husband - Two expressions i.e. Karta and Manager may be understood to be not synonymous and the expression "Manager" may be understood as denoting a role distinct from that of the Karta - In the case of HUF where the male adult coparcener has died and there is no male coparcener surviving or where the sole male coparcener is a minor - In such a situation obviously the HUF does not come to an end - The mother of the male coparcener can act as the legal guardian of the minor and also look after his role as the Karta in her capacity as his (minor's) legal guardian.
The Hindu Succession Act, 1956 - HUF
(as amended by Act, 2005) - Hindu Law - HUF - Hindu Widow - Manager - Karta of HUF - 'R' was the step mother of the respondent-plaintiff -'A' who at the time of the death of his father -'H', was a minor - 'A'-respondent plaintiff was the only surviving male coparcener after the death of 'H' -Natural mother of 'A', 'S', had played a submissive role in the affairs of the joint family and the step mother, 'R' i.e. second wife of 'H' had played an active and dominant role in managing the said affairs and was not opposed by the natural mother, 'S' - Held that the same can very well be understood to be in her capacity as the step mother of the respondent-plaintiff-'A' and, therefore, consistent with the legal position which recognizes a Hindu Widow acting as the Manager of the HUF in her capacity as the guardian of the sole surviving minor male coparcener - Such a role necessarily has to be distinguished from that of a Karta which position the Hindu widow cannot assume by virtue of her disentitlement to be a coparcener in the HUF of her husband - The position remain unaltered even after the amendment of the Hindu Succession Act in 2005.
Topic(s)-Hindu Law - HUF - Hindu Widow - Law clarified