“STRIDHAN AND WOMEN’S ESTATE”

INTRODUCTION

Over the course of several decades, ancient patriarchal India has seen a backlash of equality and
empowerment. Jill Lepore's 'The Secret History of Wonder Woman' provides insight into the
unhappy lives of women balancing marriage, family, and school. The ancient scripture
Manusmriti has clarified the oppression and subjugation of women, who were frequently
restrained by men in old patriarchal society. Manu remarked in the text of Manusmriti, "Her
father protects her in childhood, her husband protects her in youth, and her sons protect her in
old age; a woman is never fit for independence," 1 emphasizing the fate of every woman shackled
with dependence and repression.

As a result, women's property rights were severely restricted. According to Manu, a son, a wife,
and a slave do not have property rights, and if they acquire any property on their own, that
property will belong to the male under whose protection they are living. 2 The daughter's right to
inherit was also contested, as she could only inherit if she was a 'putrika,' or a brother-less girl.
Only through the efforts of several social reformers was the Hindu Women’s Right to Property
Act enacted in 1937. The stated Act changed the concept of all schools of Hindu law in order to
provide Hindu women more rights.

This Act brought about revolutionary changes by affecting not only the law of coparcenaries but
also the law of alienation, inheritance, partition and adoption. 3 It allowed a widow to take an
equal share as her son but barred her from becoming a coparcener; as a result, widows had only a
limited estate in her deceased husband’s property with the ability to divide. Although the goal of
the Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act was to expand the property rights of all Hindu women
in general, it only strengthened the rights of widows and not the rights of women as a class. The
position of a daughter’s right of inheritance was similarly unaffected as by the said Act of
legislature.
1
Ritesha Das, “Stridhan and Women’s Estate Under Hindu Law”, 2020, 1, available at https://lexpeeps.in/stridhan-
and-womens-estate-under-hindu-law/
2
Milind Rajratnam, “Hindu Succession Act: Demystifying Stridhan and Women’s Estate”, 2020, 1, available at
https://www.latestlaws.com/articles/hindu-succession-act-demystifying-stridhan-and-women-s-estate-by-milind-
rajratnam
3
Suman Gupta, “Status of Women under Hindu Succession Act”, 2007, AIR, vol. V
After receiving much criticism for the Hindu Women’s Right to Property Act, Parliament
decided to enact the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 to amend legislation dealing with women’s
property rights. Before the Hindu Succession Act, 1956 came into force; women’s property was
divided into two parts:

 Stridhan
 Women’s Estate

What is Stridhan?

The Smritikars defined “Stridhan” as the property that a female received as a gift from her kin,
which primarily consists of movable property. The word ‘Stridhan’ is made up of two words:
‘stri’ which means woman and ‘dhana’ which means property. Stridhan is supposed to include
the presents given to her by her wedding guests throughout both the bridal procession and the
marriage ceremony. It is property over which a woman has complete ownership and alienation
rights.

Enumeration of Stridhan or Women’s Property:

 Gifts & Bequest from relatives: This is known as the Stridhan's head. Such presents
may be presented to a lady during her maidenhood, coverture, or widowhood by her
parents and her relatives, or by her husband and his relatives. Such bequests can be made
through will or inter-vivos. The Dayabhaga school of thought does not regard the
husband's gift of immovable property to be Stridhan.

 Gifts & Bequest from strangers: Stridhan also constitutes the property granted to a lady
by gift inter vivos or by will by strangers during her maidenhood or widowhood. Prior to
1956, the gifts gained from strangers while captivity was Stridhan, but they were within
the jurisdiction of her husband throughout his lifetime. They became Stridhan when her
husband died.

 Property acquired by self-exertion or mechanical art: At every stage of her life, a

woman can obtain property through labor occupations, employment, singing, dancing,
 and so on, or with any other mechanical art. According to Hindu law, the property gained
by her during her maidenhood or widowhood comprises of Stridhan. According to
Mithila and Bengal schools, any such property gained by her during her captivity is not a
Stridhan, but according to the rest of the schools, it is.

 Property purchased with Stridhan: According to Hindu law schools, any property
acquired with Stridhan, or with Stridhan savings, comprises Stridhan.

 Property obtained in lieu of maintenance: Stridhan also constitutes payments provided

to a woman in lump sum or on a regular basis for her maintenance, including arrears of
such maintenance, under all schools of Hindu law,. Furthermore, all moveable and
immovable things delivered to her remain Stridhan by absolute gift in lieu of
maintenance.

 Property obtained by inheritance: A Hindu female can inherit property from either a
man or female. Such property can be inherited from either her parents' or her husband's
side. Mitakshara viewed inherited property as Stridhan.

Kinds of Stridhan under Dayabhaga & Mitakshara:

 Dayabhaga: According to Dayabhaga, there are two kinds of Stridhan.

1. Yautaka
2. Ayautaka

YAUTAKA
It means anything given at the time of marriage when the bride and groom are seated on the same
seat. Thus, Yautaka means all the presents offered to the bride during the wedding ceremony,
when she and her husband are seated together4

AYAUTAKA

All gifts that are not Yautaka fall under the range of Ayautaka. It comprises not only gifts and
legacies made by the father and other relatives before marriage, but also gifts and legacies given
to a woman through relationships other than the father after marriage.5

 Mitakshara: According to Mitakshara, property can be separated into two groups based
on the women's independent power of disposal over it.
1. Saudayika Stridhan
2. Non - Saudayika Stridhan

SAUDAYIKA
Property acquired by a married or unmarried female, by her husband or mother, in the position of
her husband or father, is called Saudayika. All kinds of Saudayika is completely at the discretion
of the woman, she can invest, sell or give it to her own pleasure. Her husband has no power over
the deals or use of Saudayika.6
NON-SAUDAYIKA

All the remaining forms of Stridhan fall under this group. A woman does not have the right to
dispose of the Stridhan property during the cover-up without the consent of her husband.7

STRIDHAN VS DOWRY
4
Ritesha Das, “Stridhan and Women’s Estate Under Hindu Law”, 2020, 1, available at https://lexpeeps.in/stridhan-
and-womens-estate-under-hindu-law/
5
Ritesha Das, “Stridhan and Women’s Estate Under Hindu Law”, 2020, 1, available at https://lexpeeps.in/stridhan-
and-womens-estate-under-hindu-law/
6
Ritesha Das, “Stridhan and Women’s Estate Under Hindu Law”, 2020, 1, available at https://lexpeeps.in/stridhan-
and-womens-estate-under-hindu-law/
7
Ritesha Das, “Stridhan and Women’s Estate Under Hindu Law”, 2020, 1, available at https://lexpeeps.in/stridhan-
and-womens-estate-under-hindu-law/
Despite the fact that 'Stridhan' and 'Dowry' are completely different words, they are frequently
confused. Dowry is defined as any property or valued security given or promised to be handed
by the bride's side to the bridegroom's family before, after, or during the marriage, as per
domestic law. The most distinguishing characteristic between 'dowry' and 'Stridhan' is the
presence of "demand, undue influence, or coercion" in the former but not in the latter. Stridhan is
a present given to women voluntarily, rather than as a consequence of request, undue influence,
or coercion. In a number of cases, the courts have established the distinction between Stridhan
and dowry. The fundamental reason for the distinction is that if the marriage breaks down in the
future, the women will be able to retrieve the presents she received as Stridhan, which she will
not be able to do with dowry gifts.

After seeing the distress of an estranged wife in Pratibha Rani v. Suraj Kumar (1985), the Apex
Court defined the difference between dowry and Stridhan. It was decided that the woman would
be the sole proprietor of her Stridhan and could use it however she pleased. While the husband
had no right or interest in the Stridhan in normal circumstances, it was decided that he could use
it in times of extreme sorrow and must restore it when he was able.

WOMEN’S ESTATE

The meaning of Stridhan has been broadened in Yajnavalkya's text to cover all properties
acquired by a woman by inheritance, partition, seizure, purchase, and findings. However, the
Privy Council refused to accept Yajnavalkya's text's expansion, leading to the development of
the concept of women's estate.

Property acquired by inheritance - A property inherited by a female from another female falls
under the Bombay School's Stridhan. As a result, whatever is given to a female on purpose
becomes her Stridhan, according to this theory.

Share obtained on partition - A female is entitled to a fair share of the property on partition,
but she can only do so as a limited owner because her rights are limited in two ways:

 She cannot alienate the corpus (things or shares obtained in partition) in an ordinary
manner, and
  After her death, her property will be entrusted to the next heir of the last full owner. 8

8
Oishika Banerji, “Women’s Property under Hindu Law: an overview”, 2021, 1, available at:
“https://blog.ipleaders.in/womens-property-under-hindu-law-an-overview/”