The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday ruled that a
child born of rape has inheritance rights to the biological father's
property . The right will, however, be subject to the personal law
concerned.
The direction came as the court delivered the judgment in a rape case
involving a 13year-old victim. A division
bench of Justices Shabihul Hasnain and Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya told the
government to pay the child Rs 10 lakh as maintenance. It also asked
the government to ensure that the girl gets a job once she attains
adulthood.
The victim belongs to a poor family , and got pregnant
after she was raped earlier this year. The family got to know about the
pregnancy after the legal deadline of 20 weeks for abortion
expired.They moved the HC seeking permission for abortion, but a panel
of doctors appointed by the court deemed it too dangerous for the
teenager.
The court appointed a panel of senior lawyers to assist it on the issue
of inheritance for a child born of rape. “The matter relating to
inheritance, the manner of birth...is irrelevant; the rights of
inheritance of a person are governed by the personal law to which the
person is subject, irrespective of the manner of birth,“ the court said.
It clarified that it was not giving any specific direction for
inheritance of property in the case because it may have grave
consequences if the father starts claiming some special reproach
privileges over the child, like
rights of visitation or custody, which is “undesirable“.
The
court added, “The rights of inheritance in the property of a biological
parent is a complex personal law right which is guided by either
legislation or custom.“
“It may not be possible to judicially lay
down any norm or principle for inheritance by a minor who is born as a
result of rape. Such attempt by the court would amount to legislation by
judicial pronouncement and would operate as precedent in times to come.
It would not therefore be desirable to venture into this field and
accordingly we leave it open for the appropriate legislature to deal
with this complex social issue.“
The court said that in the present case there are two victims: the girl who was raped and the child born of rape.
