In a landmark decision, the full bench of the Telangana High Court has clarified the legal status of adopted children in relation to ancestral property. The court firmly stated that upon adoption, a child relinquishes their rights as a coparcener in the birth family and forfeits any interest in the ancestral property.
The ruling, delivered by the bench comprising Justice Ponugoti Naveen Rao, Justice Bollam Vijaysen Reddy, and Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka, stems from a petition that had been pending before the High Court since 2001. The case originated from a suit filed in 1977 by Narasimha Rao, who sought a partition and possession of the properties belonging to his birth family. The senior civil judge court in Khammam had previously ruled that an adopted child would not be divested of their share in the property of the birth family after adoption by another family.
However, the adoption case took a turn when Nageswara Rao, the brother of Narasimha Rao, filed an appeal in 1985 challenging the court's decision. The appeal was subsequently dismissed, leading Nageswara Rao to file a letter of patent appeal in 2001, which eventually led to the formation of the full bench to examine the matter.
After extensive analysis of legal texts and previous court judgments, including those of the Supreme Court, the full bench concluded that an adopted child ceases to be a coparcener of their birth family upon adoption. They clarified that the child only retains rights in ancestral property if a partition had already taken place before adoption, and the property was allotted to their share.
The court's ruling emphasizes that the term "vested" in Section 12 of the Adoption Act indicates a contingency where ancestral properties are partitioned and a share is allotted to a child. In such cases, if the child is subsequently adopted, they retain the property that was vested in them before adoption. However, once adopted into the adoptive family, the child severs all ties with the birth family and becomes a coparcener of the adoptive family.
This significant judgment provides legal clarity on the rights of adopted children concerning the ancestral property and aligns with the interpretation of Hindu law principles.
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