Overview
- The Andhra Pradesh High Court, which ruled Monday, set aside a 2023 order by the Joint Collector and told the Tehsildar to record the petitioner as owner in the revenue records.
- Justice Tarlada Rajasekhar Rao held that a husband has no right over property a woman inherited from her parents if she dies without a will and without children.
- The case involved a grandmother’s 2002 gift to one granddaughter, that granddaughter’s death in 2005, a cancellation of the gift, and a later will bequeathing the land to the other granddaughter, petitioner Chikkala Devika Manasa.
- The court noted the petitioner already had a 2025 civil decree declaring her title, undercutting the administrative order that had favored the deceased granddaughter’s husband.
- The ruling clarifies how Section 15(2)(a) directs inheritance in such cases and may guide future disputes over revenue-record mutations handled by RDOs, Joint Collectors, and Tehsildars.