A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF PROPERTY RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN INDIA

Equality, dignity, economic independence, and social justice all depend on property rights. Substantial gender equality in India is largely dependent on the acknowledgment and upholding of women's property rights. In the past, women in India were subject to a number of legal, social, and customary limitations around property ownership, inheritance, succession, and control. Significant disparities still persist in practice even though women's property rights have gradually been strengthened by law reforms and constitutional guaranties. Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Indian Constitution establish the basic basis for equality and nondiscrimination, while Article 21 safeguards life and individual liberty, including autonomy and dignity. By acknowledging females as coparceners in the same way as sons, the Hindu Succession Act, 1956—especially after the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005—marked a significant development. A daughter enjoys equal coparcenary rights by birth, according to the Supreme Court's ruling in Vineeta Sharma v. Rakesh Sharma (2020). A major step toward substantive equality in property ownership is represented by the ruling.