Grandchildren Are Excluded From Deceased Muslim Man's Estate Only If He Has Surviving Son/Daughter: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has made it clear that the grandchildren of a Muslim man are excluded from his estate only if, upon his demise, he is survived by a son or daughter.In the absence of any issue, however, Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora clarified that the grandchildren, being the only surviving lineal descendants, cannot be excluded from the grandfather's estate. The bench was dealing with a case revolving around one Mohd. Arif's estate. His son died in 2014 whereas Arif passed away in 2021, leaving behind his grandchildren, who sought their share in the property.However, the defendants, Arif's nephews, contended that under Muslim Law grand-children do not inherit the estate of the grandfather and claimed that the estate will instead devolve upon them, being the legal heirs of his predeceased brothers.Disagreeing, the High Court observed,“The grandchildren are excluded only if the grandfather has other surviving sons and daughters. As noted above, in the facts of this case, the deceased Mohd. Arif had no other surviving son or daughter and therefore the plaintiffs herein would inherit the said estate.”The defendants sought to rely on the Supreme Court judgment in Mohd. Amirullah Khan and Others vs. Mohd. Hakumullah Khan and Others (1999) to contend that the grandchildren from a pre-deceased son do not acquire any right in the immovable property of the deceased grandfather under the Muslim Law. The High Court however distinguished the case on facts, pointing that,“This judgment of the Supreme Court explains that grandchildren cannot succeed if uncles and aunts are alive at the time of the demise of the grandfather…In the facts of that case, the deceased was survived by sons and daughters as well as grandchildren of the predeceased son. However, in the facts of the case in hand late Mohd. Arif had only one son Mohd. Muneer and no other surviving son or daughter. Therefore, in the considered opinion of this Court, the reliance placed by defendants on the judgment of Amirullah Khan (supra) is of no avail.”The Court further said it is unable to understand on what legal basis the estate of Mohd. Arif can be claimed by the children of his predeceased brothers, who are not his lineal descendants. It observed, “In the facts of this case, where Mohd. Arif only had one son, who had pre-deceased him. In the judgments relied upon by the defendants, it is a case where the deceased Muslim had more than one child, and one of his/her children was alive at the time of his death; and therefore, the heirs of the deceased child i.e. grandchildren were held to have been excluded. This Court therefore prima facie finds no merit in the submission of defendant nos. 1 to 6 that the estate would be inherited by them to the exclusion of the plaintiffs.”Appearance: Mr. Sanjeev Sindhwani, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Jai Sahai Endlaw and Ms. Sagarika Kaul, Advocates for Plaitniffs; Ms. Gayatri Puri, Mr. Madhav Saraswat, Mr. Reshul Mittra, Mr. Jayant Chauhan and Mr. Yusuf, Advocates for D-1 to D-6 Case title: Hamzah Muneer & Anr v. Mohd Aqil & Ors.Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 1082Case no.: CS(OS) 353/2022 Click here to read order

Grandchildren Are Excluded From Deceased Muslim Man's Estate Only If He Has Surviving Son/Daughter: Delhi High Court

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