BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court dismissed petitions filed by some members of Mysuru and Sandur royal families who had questioned the validity of Section 5(ii) of the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, which keeps any estate like royal “Gaddi”, etc., which descends to a single heir in terms of an agreement entered with the Government of India by erstwhile Rulers, out of partition under the Act.
“No sufficient grounds are made out to declare Section 5(ii) of the Act, 1956 to be otiose or redundant warranting issuance of direction to delete the said provision from the statute as sought for,” said Justice MGS Kamal, upholding the validity of Section 5(ii) of the Act by dismissing the petitions filed in 2015 by Chaduranga Kantharaj Urs, a grandson of Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar and Venkatrao Y Ghorphade and Gayatri Ghorphade, children of Yeshwantrao Ghorphade.
Noting that the ‘Instruments of Merger’ specifically deal with three aspects such as privy purse, personal rights, privileges, dignities and titles of ruler, and private properties, and succession to Gaddi, the court said that Articles 291 and 362 were only with respect to guarantees and assurances made by the Dominion of India with regard to privy purse, personal rights, privileges, dignities and titles of erstwhile Rules of Princely State of India and not with respect to their personal private properties and “Gaddi”, impartible estate.