The Supreme Court has said that children born out of void and voidable marriages should be treated as an extended family of the common ancestor for the purpose of deciding a valid share in the property of the common ancestor.
Noting that children born out of void marriages were entitled to share in the parent’s property, Bench of Justice MM Sundresh and Justice SVN Bhatti ruled that once the common ancestor has admittedly considered the children born of void and voidable marriage as his legitimate children, then such children would be entitled to the same share as the successors in the property of the common ancestor as that of children born out of a valid marriage.
As per the case, one Muthusamy Gounder (dead) had three marriages out of which two were declared void. Out of these three marriages, Gounder has five children – four sons and a daughter. The legitimate son (Respondent no.3) born out of a valid marriage filed the suit for partition before the trial court. The children born out of a void marriage were also impleaded as defendants before the trial court. The trial court decreed the suit for partition in favour of the legitimate child.
The children from void marriage challenged the trial court order before the High Court, which refused to interfere with the trial court verdict. The children then approached the Apex Court.