Key SC judgments that marked 2020

to give daughters the same rights in the coparcenary (parental) property as the sons. But two judgments by the top court gave conflicting decisions as to whether it was necessary for a man to be alive on the date of the 2005 amendment to give his daughter the right in the parental property. A three-judge bench settled this dispute in August when it ruled that a right of the daughter is secured at the time of her birth. The father being alive or not on the date of the amendment will not affect her rights in any manner. It said: “A son is a son until he gets a wife. A daughter is a daughter throughout her life...The eligibility of a married daughter must be placed on a par with an unmarried daughter (for she must have been once in that state) to claim the benefit...(Otherwise, it would be) unfair, gender-biased and unreasonable.”

CBI probe in actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death case

While the mystery remains to be solved, the Supreme Court in August ordered for a CBI investigation into Sushant Singh Rajput’s death , and directed the Maharashtra government to render all assistance. The court rejected Maharashtra government’s argument that Rajput’s father could not have got an FIR registered at Patna, which later formed the basis for the Bihar government to recommend a CBI probe. The top court delivered the verdict on a plea of actor Rhea Chakraborty who sought transfer of FIR lodged against her at Patna to Mumbai where the 37-year-old Rajput was found dead inside his apartment in suburban Bandra.

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