Published Paper Details:

India is a land of multicultural diversity where the various religious groups have their separate personal laws. Personal laws of different religions are retained to ensure the separation of the religion from the state and politics. These personal laws are largely influenced by the patriarchal notions of the society. Since the ancient times, women have faced discrimination in the male dominated society. Gender inequality is seen as the moral and ethical problem. Women were not given any of the property rights as she was treated economically dependent on her father or husband. Much progressive legislation have been enacted after the independence to ensure the equal property rights to the women. Even after the 75 years of independence, equal property rights of the women still remains a pipe dream. In the age of feminism, it is the need of the hour to end the gender discrimination in inheritance and property rights of the women. The paper analyses the property rights of the women prevalent in the personal laws. The paper also focuses on the legal and judicial framework of the inheritance rights of the women in India. Also, the researcher has discussed that there is an urgent need to amend and codify the personal and customary laws to make them unbiased and favourable towards women. Reforms within the personal laws are necessary to achieve the gender justice and equality.